No way back: Tinubu says a subsidy return would bankrupt Nigeria
Answering Atiku Abubakar’s call for a “production subsidy”, the President told young supporters that the country has “nothing left to pay subsidy”, and that growth is heading the right way.
Policy debates in an election season are rarely this direct. Asked, in effect, whether he would bring back petrol subsidy, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu gave a one-word answer and then a warning: “No, Nigeria will go bankrupt.”
The President was speaking on Monday at the State House event for the City Boy Movement and other youth support groups. He was responding to a proposal from the African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, for what Atiku has called a “production subsidy”.
“Nothing left to pay subsidy”
The President argued that the arithmetic simply does not allow it. The country, he said, has “nothing left to pay subsidy”. He has framed ending it as one of the defining decisions of his administration.
He also pointed to the results he believes are already showing. With growth at about 4.6 per cent by his account, he told the audience: “We are on the right trajectory.”
A warning about the printing press
The President went further back, criticising the Ways and Means financing of earlier years, when the Central Bank lent directly to the federal government. “We printed currencies as if there was no tomorrow,” he said. The President presented his refusal to return to it as protection for ordinary households.
What it means for young Nigerians
For young people, whose wages, transport costs and small-business margins are all exposed to fuel prices, this is not an abstract argument. The President’s case is that subsidies paid with borrowed or printed money end up being paid for later, through inflation and debt. His opponents argue for relief now. On 16 January, voters will decide which argument they find more convincing.
The President’s allies have made the same case. At the inauguration of the APC campaign council on 14 October, Imo Governor Hope Uzodimma credited him with ending both petrol subsidy and multiple exchange rates: “You were the only one who chose to end them.”
For now, the incumbent’s position could not be clearer. There will be no subsidy, no return to the printing press, and he is staying the course.
Sources
This story was compiled by Ripple Nigeria Staff from the public reports and official statements listed above. Figures described as claims are attributed to the people or organisations that made them.
