PRESIDENT-elect Bola Tinubu’s administration may experience a rocky start due to the number of challenges bedeviling the country, Vice President-elect, Kashim Shettima, has warned.
Shettima said this in an address delivered on Friday at the 2023 Presidential Inauguration Public Lecture at the National Mosque, Abuja.
In an attempt to lower expectations, Shettima said the incoming administration has an enormous task ahead and a myriad of issues to resolve.
He noted that the process might make the beginning of the new regime a difficult one.
Shettima said subsidy removal and the multiple exchange rate system, among others, are serious challenges that the administration must surmount.
He also noted that the incoming administration does not have the luxury of time to tackle these challenges.
“The starting point might not be rosy, let me be very honest with you. The oil subsidy has become an albatross around our necks. The multiple exchange rates system is a drain on the national economy and creates a dual economic system,” he said.
“As the Chinese will say, ‘The worst curse that a Chinese man may wish on you is for you to live in interesting times.’ And indeed, we are living in interesting times.”
But he assured Nigerians that Tinubu would tackle these challenges and hit the ground running.
“Rest assured that in time, Nigerians will come to pay glowing tributes to Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. We’re here — leaders — not because of our intellect. Neither Kashim Shettima nor Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu holds any PhD degree. We are what we are not because of our physical powers. We are what we are, not because of our political sagacity. There are better politicians.
“Power, to us, will be a humbling experience. It’s an opportunity to serve God and humanity. And whether we accept it or not, we are going to spend more years of our lives outside power than in power,” he added.
On May 29, President Muhammadu Buhari will vacate the Aso Rock Presidential Villa and hand over to Tinubu.
The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate had been declared the winner of the presidential election after polling 8,794,726 votes.
According to the Independent Electoral Commission, Tinubu had over 25 per cent of the votes cast in 30 states, more than the 24 states constitutionally required.
INEC said Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) came second in the election with 6,984,520 votes. While Labour Party candidate Peter Obi came third with 6,101,533 votes.
