President Bola Tinubu has made it clear that he has no regrets regarding the removal of the petrol subsidy during his first media chat on Monday, December 24.
In his address, President Tinubu described the petrol subsidy as a significant burden on Nigeria’s economic future, labeling it an unsustainable form of expenditure. “Nigeria was spending its future, not investing,” Tinubu stated. “We were spending the fortune of our future generations, not investing. We were just deceiving ourselves. That reform was necessary. Why should we have expenditures that we don’t have revenue to support?”
The president emphasized that the removal of the subsidy was aimed at redirecting resources toward investments that would benefit the nation’s long-term growth rather than continuing to fund unsustainable costs.
Tinubu also stressed the need for improved resource management across all national programs. “We should teach management in all our programs. We have to manage our resources,” he said, highlighting that the country must adopt more efficient approaches to handling its financial resources.
The president criticized the previous subsidy system for allowing Nigeria’s fuel to be subsidized and exported to neighboring countries, thereby benefiting those nations at Nigeria’s expense. “There is no way you give out fuel and allow all the entire neighboring countries as Father Christmas. I don’t have any regrets whatsoever removing the subsidy. It is necessary. We cannot spend our future generation investments upfront,” Tinubu concluded.
President Tinubu’s remarks are expected to spark continued debate regarding the removal of the petrol subsidy, as Nigerians grapple with the short- and long-term implications of the policy change.
