President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has defended the removal of petroleum subsidy by his administration, revealing that Nigeria's revenue within six months of the 2024 fiscal year has hit over 9.1 trillion Naira, just as the amount being spent from the revenue to service debt has been reduced to 68 percent from the previous 97 percent
President Tinubu who made the revelation in his nationwide broadcast on Sunday to dounse the tension generated by the hunger protest #End Bad Governance In Nigeria ", which started since August 1, 2024 across the country, also disclosed that outstanding foreign exchange obligations of about $5billion had been cleared without any adverse impacts on the programmes of his administration
The president who called for dialogue with organizers of the protesters, attributed the increase in revenue to blockage of leakages and automation process introduced by his government
"In the past 14 months, our government has made significant strides in rebuilding the foundation of our economy to carry us into a future of plenty and abundance. On the fiscal side, aggregate government revenues have more than doubled, hitting over 9.1 trillion Naira in the first half of 2024 compared to the first half of 2023 due to our efforts at blocking leakages, introducing automation, and mobilising funding creatively without additional burden on the people", he stated
"These decisions I made were necessary if we must reverse the decades of economic mismanagement that didn’t serve us well. Yes, I agree, the buck stops on my table. But I can assure you that I am focused fully on delivering the governance to the people – good governance for that matter"
He expressed concern over a situation where 97 percent of the nation's revenue was being spent to service debt, saying such is not healthy for the economy
"I therefore took the painful yet necessary decision to remove fuel subsidies and abolish multiple foreign exchange systems which had constituted a noose around the economic jugular of our Nation and impeded our economic development and progress,"
"Coming from a place where our country spent 97% of all our revenue on debt service; we have been able to reduce that to 68% in the last 13 months. We have also cleared legitimate outstanding foreign exchange obligations of about $5billion without any adverse impact on our programmes"
President Tinubu added with the increase in revenue, more financial resources were made available to other tiers of government the state and local governments fund education, health and other critical infrastructure to grow the economy
"This has given us more financial freedom and the room to spend more money on you, our citizens, to fund essential social services like education and healthcare. It has also led to our State, and Local Governments receiving the highest allocations ever in our country’s history from the Federation Account", he said
He added that the current ambience created by the Federal Government contributed to increased production in the non-oil sector
"Productivity is gradually increasing in the non-oil sector, reaching new levels and taking advantage of the opportunities in the current economic ambience"
Tinubu maintained that his administration had removed all impediment in the way of the nation's economy and pave way for a brighter future for generations yet unborn
"For decades, our economy has remained anaemic and taken a dip because of many misalignments that have stunted our growth. Just over a year ago, our dear country, Nigeria, reached a point where we couldn’t afford to continue the use of temporary solutions to solve long-term problems for the sake of now and our unborn generations", he stated
"My vision for our country is one of a just and prosperous nation where each person may enjoy the peace, freedom, and meaningful livelihood that only democratic good governance can provide – one that is open, transparent and accountable to the Nigerian people," he assured Nigerians
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