By Newsworld

Vice President Kashim Shettima has visited President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in Lagos following the President’s return from the United States, where Shettima represented him at the 2026 United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).

The visit was disclosed on Saturday by the Special Assistant to the President on Social Media, Dada Olusegun. Speaking after the meeting, Shettima said he had remained in regular contact with Tinubu throughout the President’s absence from the country, despite being away on official duties at the UNGA.

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Shettima said modern communication technology had enabled the President to remain updated on developments in Nigeria while abroad.

“We have been in regular contact throughout his sojourn abroad. So we have been in regular contact, we speak almost every other day and we are updating him on developments in the nation and we are happy he is back on the seat,” the Vice President said.

Shettima Defends Tinubu’s Economic Reforms

The Vice President also defended some of the major economic decisions taken by the Tinubu administration, particularly the removal of the petrol subsidy and the unification of the foreign exchange market.

Shettima urged Nigerians to remain patient with the administration, arguing that the reforms were necessary to address longstanding economic challenges.

He recalled the state of Nigeria’s foreign reserves when the Tinubu administration assumed office, saying they stood at about $3.9 billion.

“When we assume the mantle of leadership, our foreign reserves was a staggeringly low $3.9bn that was not enough to import fuel for one month,” Shettima said.

According to him, Tinubu demonstrated the political courage to take difficult economic decisions that previous administrations had avoided.

“He had the courage and the conviction to take far-reaching decisions,” Shettima said, referring to the removal of the fuel subsidy and foreign exchange reforms.

The Vice President acknowledged the hardship being experienced by Nigerians as a result of the economic situation but expressed optimism that the difficulties would ease.

“We appreciate the pains Nigerians are going through, but tough times do not last forever; tough people do,” he said.

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Shettima also announced plans for an e-logistics programme in the North-East, which he said would involve 10,600 electric tricycles and 300 buses, alongside e-taxis.

He said the Federal Government was also developing interventions targeted at students and other vulnerable Nigerians as part of efforts to cushion the effects of the economic challenges.

“Be rest assured that we’ll come up with programmes and projects to ease the pains of the people,” the Vice President assured.

On the 2027 general elections, Shettima acknowledged that political activities were already gathering momentum but said the administration would continue to combine governance with political activities.

“Politics is in the air, but we’ll combine politics and governance,” he said.

The meeting between Tinubu and Shettima comes as the administration continues to push its economic reform agenda while political activities gradually intensify ahead of the 2027 general elections.