- Shettima said the Access to Higher Education Act was repealed and reenacted to address exclusion of poor applicants.
- He explained that inherited taxes like the 10% plastic levy and telecom tax were suspended after critical stakeholder review.
Vice President Kashim Shettima has said the administration of President Bola Tinubu is committed to working hand-in-hand with Nigerians through the country’s reform process.
Shettima said this on Tuesday at a two-day interactive session on Government-Citizens Engagement, organised by the Sir Ahmadu Bello Memorial Foundation in Abuja.
The vice president, who was represented by the special adviser to the president on general duties, office of the vice president, Aliyu Umar Moddibo, noted that the government was built on empathy, inclusiveness and public engagement.
“What we nurture today is not just a government of the people but a government with the people,” he said.
He stressed that Tinubu’s government was not making policies in isolation, but rather convening conversations and institutionalising listening.
Shettima said public feedback had influenced adjustments in policies relating to tax reform, higher education access and post-subsidy interventions.
He explained that the administration had to repeal and reenact the Access to Higher Education Act after discovering that income ceilings and guarantor requirements excluded many qualified applicants.
“No student should be disqualified for being born on the wrong side of poverty,” Shettima added.
On tax reform, he said the presidential tax and fiscal reform committee had consulted widely to refine proposals and eliminate inherited burdens.
“When objections arose from governors and citizens alike, the president did not dismiss them. He welcomed their candour. Even unpopular taxes inherited from past regimes, like the 10% single-use plastic levy and telecom tax, were suspended after review,” he said.
On the removal of fuel subsidy, Shettima admitted that it caused hardship, but explained that the government acted with empathy and provided strategic responses.
“We met with labour unions not with threats, but with empathy. We offered palliatives, increased wages, waived diesel taxes, and introduced CNG buses to cushion transport costs. We were not merely reacting, we were responding,” he stated.
He said reforms in other sectors were also shaped by people-focused engagements, noting that governance was a process of correction rather than perfection.
“A government that listens is a government that learns. And a government that learns is a government that leads,” Shettima said.
The vice president commended 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.”