President Bola Tinubu has forcefully rejected calls for a return to Nigeria’s fuel subsidy regime, likening any reversal of the policy to asking Moses to lead the Israelites back into Egyptian captivity.
Addressing members of the City Boy Movement on Monday, the President declared that the economically draining subsidy will remain a relic of the past, insisting that the country’s financial survival depends on it.
Tinubu made it clear that his administration would not backtrack on the landmark decision, emphasizing that continuing the payments would have pushed Nigeria over the edge.
“With your ideas, I came and I removed subsidy the first day. No, Nigeria will go bankrupt. You have nothing left to pay subsidy,” the President stated.
Acknowledging that the opposition has continued to focus on the policy and promise its return, Tinubu remained firm, arguing against taking the country back to its previous economic trajectory.
“I listen to my political opponents promising a return to subsidy,” he said.
Leveraging his religious background, the President turned to the biblical and Quranic narratives of Moses (Musa) to drive his point home, making it clear that Nigeria has Crossed the Red Sea on the subsidy issue and will not be returning to its ‘Egypt’.
“Most of all, sometimes I remember my scriptural studies, both in the Bible and in the Holy Koran. When Moses and Musa left Egypt, they faced the challenge and the Red Sea parted and gave way.
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“You cannot ask Moses to go back to Egypt. We will campaign with ideas and original thoughts and deep thinking to move this country forward. With your energy, your support, never will we go back to Egypt,” Tinubu added.
Tinubu famously announced that the “fuel subsidy is gone” during his inauguration in May 2023. While the move has been praised for removing a massive burden on the government’s finances, it has also led to significant increases in petrol prices, which has, in turn, fueled inflation and contributed to the current cost-of-living challenges facing Nigerians.
The economic implications have remained a heated topic, with Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, warning earlier this month that bringing back the subsidy could result in pump prices soaring to N2,000 per litre.
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