We have Saved Over N1trn From Fuel Subsidy Removal – Tinubu
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has said the administration saved over one trillion naira in two months of implementing his predecessor’s fuel subsidy removal policy.
The President who made this revelation in a nationwide broadcast on Monday night justified his decision not to take the country back to the days of fuel subsidy payment, saying the huge amount of money would have been lost to smugglers and fraudsters.
“In a little over two months, we have saved over a trillion Naira that would have been squandered on the unproductive fuel subsidy which only benefitted smugglers and fraudsters. That money will now be used more directly and more beneficially for you and your families.
“For example, we shall fulfill our promise to make education more affordable to all and provide loans to higher education students who may need them. No Nigerian student will have to abandon his or her education because of lack of money,” the President assured.
In a broadcast titled: “From the Darkness Comes the Glorious Dawn,” the President urged Nigerians to bear with his administration, adding that there will be light at the end of the present tunnel.
He listed other palliative measures that the government will invest in like increase in minimum wage, assistance to farmers, provision of CNG buses to ease transportation and many others.
“Our commitment is to promote the greatest good for the greatest number of our people. On this principle, we shall never falter,” he said.
President Tinubu admitted that the provision of fuel subsidy was once a useful policy, arguing however that it has now outlived its usefulness.
He noted that his predecessor, Muhammadu Buhari, also saw the light and that was why he didn’t make provision for fuel subsidy in the 2023 Budget beyond June.
“For several years, I have consistently maintained the position that the fuel subsidy had to go. This once beneficial measure had outlived its usefulness. The subsidy cost us trillions of Naira yearly. Such a vast sum of money would have been better spent on public transportation, healthcare, schools, housing and even national security. Instead, it was being funnelled into the deep pockets and lavish bank accounts of a select group of individuals.
“This group had amassed so much wealth and power that they became a serious threat to the fairness of our economy and the integrity of our democratic governance. To be blunt, Nigeria could never become the society it was intended to be as long as such small, powerful yet unelected groups hold enormous influence over our political economy and the institutions that govern it.
“The whims of the few should never hold dominant sway over the hopes and aspirations of the many. If we are to be a democracy, the people and not the power of money must be sovereign.
“The preceding administration saw this looming danger as well. Indeed, it made no provision in the 2023 Appropriations for subsidy after June this year. Removal of this once helpful device that had transformed into a millstone around the country’s neck had become inevitable,” the President argued.
