President Bola Tinubu has said that there will be no going back on the fuel subsidy regime he abrogated on May 29, 2023 and the controversial tax reform bills he sent to the national assembly recently.
The president made the declarations during his maiden presidential media conference held yesterday in Lagos and appealed to Nigerians to show understanding.
On petrol subsidy, Tinubu stated matter-of-factly that he had no regret stopping it, saying it was “necessary.”
“We cannot spend our future generation investments upfront. “We were spending the fortune of our future generations, we were not investing. We were just deceiving ourselves. That reform was necessary. Why should you have expenditures that we don’t have revenue for?”
“We should teach management in all our programmes, we have to manage our resources. There is no way you give out fuel and allow all the entire neighbouring countries as Father Christmas. I don’t have regret whatsoever removing the subsidy. It is necessary,” he said.
On the vexed tax reform bills, the president said he was aware that there would stiff opposition but maintained that there was no going back on it.
The tax bills are the Nigeria Tax Bill 2024, Nigeria Tax Administration Bill 2024, Joint Revenue Board of Nigeria (Establishment) Bill 2024, and Nigeria Revenue Service (Establishment) Bill 2024.
The president said the tax reform had come to stay stressing that the reform is pro-poor and it meant to “widen the tax net so we can have more people paying.”
He stated that matters are subjects of debates, reviews and negotiations “until you reach concessions.”
“The hallmark of a good leader is the ability to do what you have to do at the time it ought to be done. We cannot continue to do what we previously did in today’s economy. We cannot retool this economy with the same broken boat and I believe that I have that capacity that is why I went into the race.
“I am focused on what Nigeria needs and what I must do for Nigerians. It is not yet eldorado for everybody but the new dawn is here. I am convinced,” the president said.
Commenting on his bloated cabinet, Tinubu also said he was not in haste to reduce the size.
He said the size of the country determines the number of ministers it gets.
“I am not prepared to bring down the size of my cabinet. I saw the need when I put them together. You do not give somebody any assignment he or she cannot fulfill. The job description must be efficient and effective.
“Nigeria is a large country. If you are to entertain over 200 million people, calculate how many stewards you will need. Let us pay attention to efficiency. Efficiency and effectiveness are the hallmarks behind the philosophy of that cabinet and I am not ready to shrink a bit of it. All the ministers are adding value,” he declared.
