President Bola Tinubu has explained that his decision to terminate the petrol subsidy upon assuming office in May 2023 was necessary to prevent the nation from going bankrupt.
Addressing members of the City Boy Movement during a meeting in Abuja on Monday, President Tinubu dismissed campaign commitments made by opposition candidates promising to restore the subsidy ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
“I came and I removed subsidy the first day. I knew Nigeria would go bankrupt; there was nothing left to pay subsidy,” Tinubu said. “I could listen to my political opponents promising a return to subsidy, but I remember my scripture studies, both in the Bible and in the Holy Quran. When Moses and Musa left Egypt, they faced a challenge, and the Red Sea parted and gave way. You cannot ask Moses to go back to Egypt.”
Tinubu reiterated that the fuel subsidy had historically consumed critical public resources while disproportionately benefiting a small group of arbitrageurs, maintaining that his administration would stick to market-driven reforms.