President Bola Tinubu said the subsidy was removed to prevent Nigeria from going bankrupt. Tinubu stated this while speaking as one of the panelists at the ongoing World Economic Forum in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Sunday.
The World Economic Forum meeting focuses on Global Collaboration, Growth, and Energy for Development. President Tinubu announced the removal of subsidy on petrol the day he was inaugurated into office. The policy, however, saw prices of commodities spike, leading to increased hardship in the country.
Speaking on the petrol subsidy removal, President Tinubu said it was needed to reset the economy. He emphasized the importance of economic collaboration and inclusiveness for stability globally.
He said, “For Nigeria, we are immensely consistent with belief that the economic collaboration and inclusiveness is necessary to engender stability in the rest of the world.
“Concerning the question of the subsidy removal, there is no doubt that it was a necessary action for my country not to go bankrupt, to reset the economy and pathway to growth,” Tinubu said.
Tinubu acknowledged the challenges but stressed the necessity of decisive leadership.
He said, “It is going to be difficult, but the hallmark of leadership is taking difficult decision at the time it ought to be taken decisively. That was necessary for the country.
“Yes, there will be blowback, there is expectation that the difficulty in it will be felt by greater number of the people, but once I believe it is their interest that is the focus of the government, it is easier to manage and explain the difficulties.
“Along the line, there is a parallel arrangement to really cushion the effect of the subsidy removal on the vulnerable population of the country. We share the pain across board, we cannot but include those who are vulnerable.
“Luckily, we have a very vibrant youthful population interested in discoveries by themselves and they are highly ready for technology, good education committed to growth.
“We are able to manage that and partition the economic drawback and the fallout of subsidy removal.”
Regarding the impact on the people, Tinubu assured that measures were in place to cushion the effect on vulnerable populations. He highlighted the resilience of Nigeria’s youthful population and their readiness for technological advancement and good education.
President Tinubu also discussed the importance of exchange rate unification, stating that it was necessary to allow the Naira to compete favorably with other world currencies. He emphasized the need to remove artificial elements of value in the currency to combat corruption and promote transparency.
He said, “The currency management was necessary equally to remove the artificial elements of value in our currency. Let our local currency find its level and compete with the rest of the world currency and remove arbitrage, corruption and opaqueness.
“That we did at the same time. That is two engine problem in a very template situation for the government, but we are able to manage that turbulence because we are prepared for inclusivity in governance and rapid communication with the public to really see what is necessary and what you must do.”