A few hours after President Bola Tinubu declared that “fuel subsidies are gone,” lines at filling stations in Lagos began to form.
REPORTERS AT LARGE noted that a queue of cars was rushing to acquire the goods at NNPC stations in Ikeja, Alausa. As of the time this report was filed, many private stations were not selling. In his inaugural address, Tinubu claimed that subsidies benefitted the wealthy at the expense of the poor.
“We applaud the outgoing administration’s decision to phase out the fuel subsidy regime, which has progressively privileged the wealthy over the poor.
In the context of depleting resources, subsidies can no longer be used to justify their ever-rising prices. Instead, he said we will redirect the cash to better investments in public infrastructure, education, healthcare, and employment that will significantly benefit millions of people’s lives.
He declared that he would also look into complaints about various taxes to strengthen the economy and draw in investors.
