Politics
President Bola Tinubu has defended his decision to remove Nigeria’s fuel subsidy, saying the naira would have lost its value had his administration kept the policy in place. He said his government would not restore the subsidy.
Tinubu spoke on Friday, November 6, at a state reception in his honour at the newly constructed Banquet Hall of ARISE Palm Resort in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State. The reception followed an All Progressives Congress (APC) rally at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium.
The president said 27 of Nigeria’s 36 state governors had been unable to meet their salary obligations when he took office, let alone pay pensions and gratuities. He argued that his administration’s reforms had since moved the country away from the risk of bankruptcy. “By now, if we didn’t take a decision, the day I took over, we would use wheelbarrows to move our naira. Because it would have been valueless, nothing,” Tinubu said.
He put the exchange rate at about ₦1,300 to the US dollar and argued that the naira had retained some purchasing power because of the decisions his administration took. Drawing on the biblical account of Moses leading the Israelites out of Egypt, he said the country needed to keep moving forward. “Nigeria will never go back to the subsidy,” he said.
Tinubu also questioned the leadership of opposition presidential candidates Peter Obi and Atiku Abubakar. He criticised Obi, the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) candidate, over erosion problems in Anambra State. He accused Atiku, the African Democratic Congress (ADC) candidate, of leaving the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) when his leadership came under challenge. Tinubu argued that their handling of those issues raised questions about whether Nigerians should entrust them with leading the country.
Turning to education, Tinubu acknowledged the financial strain facing families and said his administration’s policy was intended to ease the burden of tuition fees on parents and widen access to education.
“Equal opportunity for everybody who wants to read. Taking education as the greatest weapon against poverty. And creating opportunities for those who are still coming behind,” he said. He said money recovered by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) would be directed to the education programme.
“From today on, as we are fighting corruption, any money recovered from EFCC is dumped into that education program. No one can reverse it,” Tinubu said. The president urged Akwa Ibom residents to support his administration and renewed his pledge to help bring the Ibom Deep Seaport project to fruition.
