Tinubu stands firm on petrol subsidy removal, no regrets
President Bola Tinubu has stated that he has no regrets about removing the petrol subsidy in May 2023, emphasizing that Nigeria cannot continue to act as a “Father Christmas” to neighboring countries.
“I don’t have any regrets whatsoever about removing the petrol subsidy. We are spending our future, we were deceiving ourselves, that reform was necessary,” the former Lagos governor told reporters during a chat on Monday at his Bourdillon residence in the highbrow Ikoyi area of Lagos.
Tinubu further explained that the removal of the petrol subsidy 18 months ago increased competition within the sector and led to a gradual decrease in the pump price of petrol. “The market is being saturated. No monopoly, no oligopoly, a free market economy flowing,” he said.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain also expressed his stance against price control, stating, “I don’t believe in price control, we will work hard to supply the market.”
Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, faces significant energy challenges, with all its state-owned refineries non-operational. The country heavily depends on imported refined petroleum products, with the state-run NNPC being the major importer of these essential commodities.
Fuel queues have become a common sight in the country, and petrol prices soared significantly following the removal of the subsidy in May 2023, rising from around ₦200 per litre to over ₦1,000 per litre. This has exacerbated the hardships faced by citizens, who rely on petrol to power their vehicles and generators due to the long-standing, erratic electricity supply.
Simultaneously, the government unified foreign exchange windows, causing the value of the naira to plummet from ₦700 to over ₦1,600 to the dollar on the parallel market. Prices of food and basic commodities have also surged, as Nigerians grapple with the ensuing inflation.
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