Yesterday, President Bola Tinubu said the era of gasoline subsidies had come to an end and that it was unsustainable. In addition, he promised to review the policy of revitalization of the naira in the immediate past administration and unify the country’s exchange rate windows.
The President said that the presidential election held on February 25th, which brought him to power, had been the hardest fought since the First Republic and that it had been the best so far. He insisted that his victory didn’t make him any more Nigerian than the others and added that he wouldn’t ignore the opposition’s wisdom.
Also Read: The Inaugural address by Nigeria President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
In his inaugural speech, President Tinubu assured Nigerians that he would govern and not rule. He criticised the harsh implementation of the recent currency swap by the CBN. He stated that the policy will be reevaluated and that both old and new currencies will be accepted. Regarding fuel subsidy removal, Tinubu argued that since the previous government did not allocate funds for it after June, the money will be redirected to other areas.
The president stated during his speech on subsidy removal that “we support ending the gasoline subsidy that largely benefits the wealthy and is no longer affordable. Allocating funds towards this subsidy is no longer justifiable due to limited resources. We will redirect funds to improve public infrastructure, education, healthcare, and employment. The monetary policy requires deep cleaning. The central bank needs a unified exchange rate to promote real-economy investment.”
