Fuel Subsidy: Tinubu Says Nigeria Won’t Return to ‘Egypt’

Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu has likened calls to restore fuel subsidy to asking the biblical figure Moses to return to Egypt, insisting that Nigeria must not reverse its economic reforms.

Speaking on Monday while addressing members of the City Boy Movement, Tinubu argued that restoring the subsidy would put further pressure on government finances and risk pushing the country towards bankruptcy.

“With your ideas, I came, and I removed subsidy the first day. No, Nigeria will go bankrupt. You have nothing left to pay subsidy,” the President said.

Tinubu also criticised political opponents who have promised to restore the subsidy, saying the country must continue on its current economic path rather than return to previous policies.

Drawing on the biblical and Quranic accounts of Moses, or Musa, leading the Israelites out of Egypt, the president said reversing the subsidy removal would amount to turning back after a difficult journey.

He argued that Nigeria should instead focus on developing new ideas and policies to move the country forward, urging his supporters to reject a return to the previous economic system.

“Most of all, sometimes I remember my scriptural studies, both in the Bible and in the Holy Koran. When Moses and Musa left Egypt, they faced the challenge and the Red Sea parted and gave way.

“You cannot ask Moses to go back to Egypt. We will campaign with ideas and original thoughts and deep thinking to move this country forward. With your energy, your support, never will we go back to Egypt,” Tinubu added.

Tinubu removed the petrol subsidy during his inauguration on May 29, 2023, when he declared that “fuel subsidy is gone”. The decision immediately triggered a sharp increase in petrol prices, with transportation costs and the prices of goods and services also rising.

The subsidy has remained a major point of debate as Nigerians continue to face high living costs, with opposition figures and other political actors criticising aspects of the government’s economic reforms.

Earlier this month, Finance Minister and Coordinating Minister of the Economy Taiwo Oyedele warned that restoring the petrol subsidy could push pump prices to at least N2,000 per litre and weaken the naira to about N3,000 per dollar within months.

Oyedele argued that resuming subsidy payments would put additional pressure on government revenue and further strain the economy.

The Nigerian Government has also defended a recent intervention by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) to cushion the impact of higher petrol prices, maintaining that the measure does not amount to a reversal of the subsidy-removal policy.