Fuel Subsidy Return: ‘You Cannot Ask Moses To Go Back To Egypt’, Tinubu Tells Atiku

President Bola Tinubu has rejected calls to reinstate the petrol subsidy, declaring that Nigeria cannot afford to reverse the policy he removed on his first day in office in May 2023.

Tinubu, in an apparent response to former Vice-President and the African Democratic Congress (ADC) Presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar’s promise to restore fuel subsidy if elected president in 2027, said the country could not return to what he described as its previous economic situation.

The President made the remarks on Monday at a dinner with the leadership of the City Boy Movement, led by Seyi Tinubu, at an event themed “An Evening with the Original City Boy.”

Reflecting on his decision to remove the subsidy, Tinubu said the government could no longer sustain the financial burden associated with the policy.

“I came, and I removed the subsidy the first day. Nigeria will go bankrupt. There is nothing left to pay the subsidy,” he said.

The President said he was aware that political opponents were promising to restore the subsidy but maintained that the country should move forward rather than reverse the policy.

“I could listen to my political opponents, promising a return to subsidy,” he said.

Drawing an analogy from the biblical and Quranic accounts of Moses, also known as Musa in Islam, Tinubu said Nigeria should not return to the economic conditions it faced before the subsidy removal.

“Close to childhood, I remember my scriptural studies in both the Bible and the Holy Koran. When Moses and Musa left Egypt, they faced the challenge, and the Red Sea parted and gave way,” he said.

“You cannot ask Moses to go back to Egypt.”

Tinubu said his administration would continue to campaign on its ideas and policies, insisting that the country must maintain its current direction.

“We will campaign with our ideas and original thoughts and keep thinking to move this country forward,” he said.

“With your energy and support, we will never go back to Egypt. No regrets.”

The President also expressed confidence in the economy’s direction, saying the country was on a path towards growth and a better future.

Referring to economic news he had seen before leaving home, Tinubu cited China’s reported economic growth of about 4.6 per cent to reinforce his argument that Nigeria was moving in the right direction.

“We are on the right trajectory. We are in good company. The economy is growing steadily,” he said.

“You will have a future, a future to believe in.”

Tinubu further urged members of the movement to see their political mobilisation as an investment in their own future, rather than merely an effort to secure his re-election.

“Nigeria must win this election before any candidate does,” he said.

“You are not campaigning for me. You are campaigning for your own future. And that future is renewed hope.”

Reassuring his supporters that his administration would not reverse course, the President said the commitment and patience demonstrated by those present had reinforced his confidence.

“There’s nothing, nothing, that will push us back,” he said.

“If you’ve been this patient, this knowledgeable, this committed, what I’ve seen here tonight is the fact that your hope, my hope, has been renewed.”