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President Bola Tinubu has again offered an explanation on why he removed the controversial fuel subsidy, which led to the high cost of petroleum across the country.
On Monday, May 29, 2023, while delivering his first speech as Nigeria’s President, Tinubu declared that ‘subsidy is gone.’
The declaration automatically led to an astronomic increase in the price of petrol as fuel prices jumped from ₦185 to over ₦500 in many parts of the country.
Recall that ahead of the 2023 presidential election, all the leading presidential candidates including Tinubu promised to remove the fuel subsidy if elected.
The candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi repeatedly described the scheme as an organised crime. He suggested that money spent on petrol subsidy should be channelled into social development.
However, while speaking in Lagos on Thursday, June 29, 2023, when he was hosted by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, at the Lagos House, Marina, Tinubu said he removed the fuel subsidy to stop the bleeding in the nation’s finances.
“Nigeria can’t afford to be Father Christmas to other countries. We can’t just afford to continue paying the subsidy,” the President said.
He added that Nigerians elected him to bring about "necessary changes that will benefit not only you but your grandchildren and our tomorrow”.
The President also promised that his administration would reengineer the country’s financial system and ensure transparency in economic planning and budgetary process.
“From there, we must re-engineer the effectiveness of control and management of our resources in order to meet the obligation owed to Nigerians by politicians.”
He declared that his government would “have to re-engineer the financial system of the country…and see that our economic planning and budgetary process is transparent enough to cater for all Nigerians.”
Former governors of Lagos State, Babatunde Fashola and Akinwunmi Ambode, and other dignitaries attended the event.
The President thanked Sanwo-Olu for hosting the event and other governors who came to honour him.