Subsidy removal saved Nigeria from the precipice – Tinubu

Kunle Sanni

President Bola Tinubu has defended his administration’s economic reforms on subsidy removal on fuel and the unification of FX currencies, saying they were necessary to steer Nigeria away from the brink of collapse.

Speaking via a statement he personally signed on Thursday, marking the second anniversary of his administration, President Tinubu said that the removal of fuel subsidies and the unification of the foreign exchange (FX) market were pivotal steps taken to rescue the country from what he described as a looming economic disaster.

“My administration’s policies on subsidy removal and unification of FX currencies were to stop our country from further drifting into the precipice,” the president said.

He acknowledged the hardships experienced by Nigerians but emphasised that the measures were indispensable for economic viability.

“The economic and general situation of the country I inherited required that we redirect the country’s affairs with a bold and new vision,” he stated. “It was apparent that if the federal government and the other two tiers of government must remain viable and cater to the citizens’ welfare, we must do away with decades-long fuel subsidies and the corruption-ridden multiple foreign exchange windows.”

President Tinubu described both systems as unsustainable and harmful to Nigeria’s future, calling them “a chokehold on our nation’s neck, strangling our nation’s future.”

In his inaugural speech on May 29 of last year, President Tinubu declared the withdrawal of subsidies, citing the absence of any such provisions in the 2023 appropriation act. As a result, the price of petrol skyrocketed by approximately 200 per cent, from around N200 to over N500.