Bola Tinubu, the President of Nigeria, has explained that he decided to remove the fuel subsidy and abolish multiple foreign exchange rates to grow the economy and promote national development.

Tinubu stated this on Sunday while addressing the nation in a broadcast regarding the ongoing nationwide protest.

The President said he took the painful decision to remove the fuel subsidy and eliminate multiple foreign exchange systems to block the greed and profits that smugglers and rent-seekers were exploiting.

Tinubu added that the action also stopped the undue subsidies the country had extended to neighbouring countries to the detriment of its people, which had rendered the economy prostrate.

The President asserted that the Nigerian economy had remained anaemic for decades and had suffered due to many misalignments that had stunted its growth.

He said, “Just over a year ago, our dear country, Nigeria, reached a point where we couldn’t afford to continue using temporary solutions to solve long-term problems for the sake of now and our unborn generations.

“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 with me. But I can assure you that I am fully focused on delivering governance to the people – good governance, for that matter.”

Tinubu said his government had, in the last 13 months, reduced revenue spent on debt servicing to 68 per cent from 97 per cent previously.

He added, “We have also cleared legitimate outstanding foreign exchange obligations of about five billion dollars without any adverse impact on our programmes.

“This has given us more financial freedom and 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.”