President Bola Tinubu has defended his decision to remove fuel subsidy, insisting that Nigeria could no longer afford the policy, while urging members of the City Boy Movement to mobilise young Nigerians ahead of the 2027 elections.
Tinubu spoke at the movement’s national retreat opening dinner at the State House, Abuja
Defending the decision, he said: “I came and I removed subsidy the first day… Nigeria will go bankrupt, yes, nothing left to pay subsidy.”
He added: “I could listen to my political opponents promising a return to subsidy.”
Drawing an analogy from the biblical and Quranic account of Moses, Tinubu said: “Sometimes, I remember my scripture studies, both in the Bible and in the Holy Quran, when Moses, Musa, left Egypt, faced the challenge and the Red Sea parted and gave way.”
He declared: “You cannot ask Moses to go back to Egypt.”
Tinubu urged supporters to mobilise voters and ensure young Nigerians participate in the next election.
“See a coming election as a simple matter — in your hands. You will go to your campuses, your markets, and make sure every young person you know has a PVC and uses it. Tell them what we have done and tell them what we will do,” he said.
He added that his interactions with supporters had given him confidence, saying their reactions and contributions had provided “all the answers I needed and the confidence required.”
Tinubu concluded by urging members to support his administration’s plans to move the country forward, declaring: “If your energy, your support… never will we go back to Egypt.”
