Petrol Subsidy Removal Painful But Necessary, President Tinubu Tells Protesters

Petrol Subsidy Removal Painful But Necessary, President Tinubu Tells Protesters

President Bola Tinubu on Sunday ruled out the return of subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) famously known as petrol.

During a broadcast to over 200 million Nigerians after three days of unbroken nationwide #EndBadGovernance protests economic hardship, the President said the removal of subsidy on petrol was a painful but necessary decision he took for economic reforms.

In his speech on Sunday, Tinubu said, “For decades, our economy has remained anaemic and taken a dip because of many misalignments that have stunted our growth.

“Just over a year ago, our dear country, Nigeria, reached a point where we couldn’t afford to continue the use of temporary solutions to solve long-term problems for the sake of now and our unborn generations.

“I therefore took the painful yet necessary decision to remove fuel subsidies and abolish multiple foreign exchange systems which had constituted a noose around the economic jugular of our Nation and impeded our economic development and progress.

“These actions blocked the greed and the profits that smugglers and rent-seekers made. They also blocked the undue subsidies we had extended to our neighbouring countries to the detriment of our people, rendering our economy prostrate.

“These decisions I made were necessary if we must reverse the decades of economic mismanagement that didn’t serve us well. Yes, I agree, the buck stops on my table. But I can assure you that I am focused fully on delivering the governance to the people – good governance for that matter.”

The return of petrol subsidy has been one of the very clear demands of young Nigerians who took to the streets since Thursday to protest the economic woes confronting the country.

Tinubu, ex-Lagos governor, announced the removal of petrol subsidy during his inaugural speech as President on May 29, 2023. The price per litre of the product jumped from around N184 to over N700 depending on where it is sold in the country.

The government simultaneously unified forex windows, with the value of the naira nosediving terribly from $1/N700 to over $1/1600 at the parallel market. Prices of food and basic commodities immediately climbed through the roof as Nigerians battled attendant inflation.

Some of the protesters’ demands include the restoration of petrol subsidies and the forex regime. They also want the government to address food shortages, unemployment, and the wasteful spending of those in power. Other demands are a reduction of the President’s cabinet and general cost of governance, immediate reforms of the electoral umpire INEC and anti-graft agency EFCC with renewed vigour in the fight against corrupt politicians.