President Bola Tinubu says he has no regrets about ending the fuel subsidy. He insists Nigeria will never go back to it.
He compared any return to asking the biblical Moses to go back to Egypt.
Tinubu spoke on Monday evening in Abuja. The event was titled “Together till 2027: An Evening with Original City Boy.” The City Boy Movement organised it with the Relax-Tinubu-Is-Fixing-Nigeria movement. Both groups are backing his re-election bid in 2027.
Tinubu Takes Aim at Opponents
The President said he scrapped the subsidy on his first day in office. According to him, Nigeria was heading for bankruptcy. He said there was “nothing left to pay subsidy.”
He then took a swipe at Atiku Abubakar, the African Democratic Congress presidential candidate. Atiku has promised to bring subsidy back.
Tinubu drew on his reading of the Bible and the Holy Quran. He recalled that the Red Sea parted when Moses left Egypt. “You cannot ask Moses to go back to Egypt,” he said. “Nigeria will never go back to Egypt. No regrets.”
He also spoke about the economy. He said it is growing steadily and that the country is on the right path.
“We Took Hard Decisions”
Tinubu admitted that the past three years had been tough. He said his government took hard decisions.
He described the state of the country when he took over. Airlines were owed money and nearly cut flights to Nigeria. Foreign reserves were almost empty. Currency, he said, was printed freely.
He chose to take on the liabilities of his predecessor instead of dwelling on past faults, he added. “A nation cannot borrow its way to greatness,” he said.
Many had predicted that young Nigerians would reject the reforms. “They were wrong. You are here,” he told the crowd.
Appeal to Young Voters
Tinubu turned next to the presidential election on January 16, 2027. He urged young people to carry his message to campuses, markets and villages.
He asked supporters to make sure every young person they know has a Permanent Voter’s Card (PVC) and uses it. “You are not campaigning for me,” he said. “You are campaigning for your own future, and that future is Renewed Hope.”
He also defended the Students Loan Act, which he signed in 2023. He said he has no regrets there either. More than a million students, he said, have been supported through NELFUND.
