President Bola Tinubu says Nigeria could no longer continue to feed smugglers and act as Father Christmas to neighbouring countries, following the removal of subsidy of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), popularly called petrol.

Tinubu, who assured Nigerians that the pump price of petrol would reduce, said the removal of the petrol subsidy is for the development of the country.

There were reports that motorcyclists, on Wednesday, staged a protest in Cameroon over the removal of fuel subsidy in Nigeria.

It was learned that the commercial motorcyclists in Cameroon held the protest in solidarity with Nigerians on the effects of the subsidy removal in their country.

According to reports, the motorcyclists expressed their dissatisfaction in a blend of Fulfulde and French, criticising President Tinubu’s declaration of fuel subsidy removal.

However, Tinubu, while speaking during a meeting with the monarchs under the aegis of the National Council of Traditional Rulers of Nigeria (NCTRN) at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Friday, June 9, said he did the right thing by removing the fuel subsidy.

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He said: “I am grateful that you are paying attention to what I have been doing. You have paid attention to the subsidy removal. Why should we in good heart and sense, feed smugglers and be Father Christmas to neighbouring countries, even though they say not everyday is Christmas?

“The elephant that was going to bring Nigeria to its knees is the subsidy. A country that cannot pay salaries and we say we have potential to encourage ourselves. I think we did the right thing.”

While acknowledging concerns on the need for critical infrastructure across the country, Tinubu pledged that any roadblock on the way of the progress of Nigerians would be removed by his government.

“The lamentations about the capital projects, where is the money going to come from if we don’t protect our resources and our boundaries?

“You cannot have development without capital projects,” he added.

The Star recalls that Tinubu announced the removal of subsidy on petrol on May 29, 2023, when he took his oath of office as Nigeria’s President, saying there was no allocation for it in the 2023 budget beyond June.

Shortly afterwards, the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited announced the adjustment of pump price where NNPCL filling stations were selling fuel at N537 while others were selling from N540 and above.

The Star