* Says administration prioritising dialogue, flexibility in tax reforms, fuel subsidy removal, others

* Attends Ahmadu Bello memorial foundation citizens engagement

Deji Elumoye in Abuja 

Vice-President Kashim Shettima has said instead of governing Nigeria from a distance, the government of President Bola Tinubu is walking hand in hand with the people through critical national reforms.

He reaffirmed the commitment of the administration to inclusive governance and responsive policymaking rooted in wide-ranging public engagement and empathy.

Shettima, who disclosed this on Tuesday in Abuja at a two-day interactive session on Government-Citizens Engagement, organised by the Sir Ahmadu Bello Memorial Foundation, said the Nigerian leader has demonstrated time and again that his administration is “neither crafting policy in solitude nor assuming that technocracy alone delivers results”.

Represented by the Deputy Chief of Staff to the President (Office of the Vice-President), Senator Ibrahim Hadejia, the vice-president declared that the Tinubu administration is convening conversations and institutionalising listening.

“It is always a privilege to gather under the luminous legacy of Sir Ahmadu Bello. His memory reminds us that leadership is not simply about occupying office, but about shouldering the burden of service. What we nurture today is not just a government of the people but a government with the people,” he said.

He further noted that every step of the way, President Tinubu showed concern for the people and emphasising the point that “governance is not a theatre of perfection but a process of correction and a government that listens is a government that learns. And a government that learns is a government that leads”.

Shettima highlighted several reforms of the administration where public input significantly shaped final outcomes, including tax policy, education access, and economic relief measures following the removal of fuel subsidies.

On the student loan law, which was initially passed as the Access to Higher Education Act, the vice-president said in response, the administration repealed and reenacted the law, “removing income ceilings and guarantor barriers that had become symbolic walls between ambition and opportunity”.

Shettima reiterated government’s belief that “no student should be disqualified for being born on the wrong side of poverty”.

On tax reforms, the vice-president said the administration established a Presidential Tax and Fiscal Reform Committee, which engaged stakeholders from across the country to address grey areas in the reforms.

“When objections arose from governors and citizens alike, the president did not dismiss them. He welcomed their candour and ensured tax bills passed through public hearings. Even unpopular taxes inherited from past regimes, like the 10% single-use plastic levy and telecom tax, were suspended after critical review,” he stated.

Shettima also spoke about the contentious issue of fuel subsidy removal, saying the Tinubu-led government acknowledged the hardship faced by ordinary Nigerians and accompanied the policy with strategic responses.

“We met with labour unions not with threats, but with empathy. We offered palliative packages, increased wages, waived diesel taxes, and introduced alternatives like CNG buses to cushion transport costs. We were not merely reacting. We were responding,” he said.

The vice-president said the reforms in other sectors of the economy followed the same pattern of engaging with the people and making necessary adjustments to the original propositions where necessary. 

He applauded the Sir Ahmadu Bello Memorial Foundation for sustaining the legacy of the late Premier of Northern Nigeria, describing it as “a torch of civic dialogue that must never be extinguished”.

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