Market News

• Urges Akume and Alia to mend fences, declares Benue deserves peace

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From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja

Vice President Kashim Shettima on Tuesday hailed the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) timely intervention to slow the naira’s rapid appreciation, predicting it would hit N1,000 to the dollar “in weeks, not months” without such measures.

Shettima, who represented President Bola Tinubu at the Progressive Governors’ Forum (PGF) – Renewed Hope Ambassadors Strategic Summit in the State House Conference Hall, Abuja, spotlighted the CBN’s mop-up of about $190 million from the market last week, which curbed the currency’s speedy gains at the official window after three sessions of retreat closing Friday.

“This moment calls for us to reflect on the reforms we have pursued,” Shettima began, crediting the administration’s “honesty and discipline” for restoring fiscal credibility. “Today, we are seeing clear signs that our reforms have begun to yield results. Inflationary pressures are moderating, oil prices are easing, and our currency is strong and stable. In fact, if not for the interventions by the Central Bank of Nigeria yesterday, the N1,000 to a dollar, we are going to attain it in weeks, not in months. But for the purpose of market stability, the CBN generously intervened yesterday.”

He delivered a stern message to speculators: “So for some of my friends, especially one of our party leaders, who take delight in stockpiling dollars, it’s an awake-up call. Our economy is picking up.”

In his second major appeal, Shettima urged the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), George Akume, and Benue State Governor Hyacinth Alia to reconcile amid state tensions.

“One can hardly get a forum better than this. I want to use this forum to make a special appeal to His Excellency Senator George Akume and His Excellency Governor Hyacinth Alia to mend fences and work effectively,” he said. Praising Akume as “apart from Dr Abdullahi Ganduje, Senator Akume is the longest-serving public servant in the current dispensation. He’s in his seventies. He started work in the Benue State government house. He was the director of protocol. He was a permanent secretary. He was a governor for eight years, a senator for 16 years, a minister for four years, and now the secretary to the government of the federation. You have seen it all. You are an elder statesman; reach out to our junior brother. Let’s build Benue together. Benue deserves peace. Benue deserves development.”

Shettima framed unity as essential: “What binds us together, as I have always said, supersedes whatever that divides us… Nigeria is greater than all of us. And as Martin Luther King rightly said, we either learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools. And we are not a nation of fools. We are a nation of very intelligent, very smart people who know their onions.”

Beyond economics and reconciliation, Shettima rallied Renewed Hope Ambassadors—under Imo Governor Hope Uzodimma—to drive public engagement. “No reform can succeed without public understanding and participation. This is of strategic importance… Ambassadors must explain why tough decisions have to be made and how they link to jobs, security, enterprise, opportunity and a more stable future. They must counter misinformation with facts and replace rumour with evidence.”

He touted 2026 priorities via the N58.18 trillion budget: record capital spending, security funding, tax reforms protecting the vulnerable, and an executive order curbing federation account waste. Nigeria snagged five of Africa’s seven major investments last year, he added, signalling a shift “from stabilisation to acceleration”.

“Elections are not conducted on social media platforms. Elections are not conducted on Facebook. Elections are conducted by Nigerians who report in their own language,” Shettima stressed, charging ambassadors to reach “every ward, to every community, to every nook and cranny.” The summit, he said, affirms “our collective commitment to a shared future of peace and prosperity… Together, we will continue translating reform into opportunity, policy into impact, and sacrifice into renewed hope.”