President Bola Tinubu has reiterated that he has no regrets about removing the petrol subsidy, a decision he announced during his inaugural speech on May 29, 2023.
The removal, which caused petrol prices to surge from N190 to over N900 per litre, led to a sharp rise in inflation and living costs across the country.
Speaking during his first presidential media chat on Monday, Tinubu justified the move, stating, “Nigeria was spending its future without investing in it.”
He explained further, “We were squandering the resources meant for future generations. The subsidy was unsustainable. Why should we maintain expenditures without sufficient revenue? We were simply deceiving ourselves.”
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Tinubu emphasised the importance of resource management, saying, “We must manage what we have responsibly. Subsidising fuel for the benefit of neighbouringg countries as though we are Father Christmas makes no sense. I have no regrets. Removing the subsidy was necessary to secure our economic future.”
Defending the president’s decision, Mohammed Idris, Minister of Information and National Orientation, said the economy would have faced even greater challenges if the subsidy had remained.
In October, Wale Edun, Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, revealed that the subsidy consumed about 5 per centt of Nigeria’s GDP, underscoring the economic burden it posed.
