The Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo has questioned the scenario of whether there would still be a need for subsidies if the country’s refineries had been operational before President Bola Tinubu’s administration. He also discussed the artificially maintained exchange rates that had strained the country’s foreign reserves, arguing that previous administrations had been living unsustainably.
He asserted that if these critical economic decisions had been addressed earlier, the current problems would have been mitigated. He emphasized that President Tinubu inherited a complex set of challenges and has had to make tough decisions quickly. He compared the nation’s previous economic management to treating a serious illness with insufficient remedies, suggesting that while such measures may provide short-term relief, they are unsustainable in the long run. He urged Nigerians to be patient and give the administration time to implement its plans effectively.
He said in an interview with Channels TV From 10:40, ”If Refinery has been fixed before Tinubu came in, would there have been subsidy? If we have had unification of exchange rates before now where naira was artificially being priced, would we be having problems now. Let’s call a spade a spade, we were spending our foreign reserves to defend the naira. We were just living a fake life as a country. If these key decisions had been taken before President Bola Tinubu came into Office, are we going to be talking about?
The truth is that this is a President that inherited so much to do in just a short while. I’m not the Minister of information, I’m the Minister of interior. I feel the pain that Nigerians are going through but we have a President that I know who has a master plan. And the fact is this, you cannot go through this process without passing through difficult stages. What we had before is that somebody who had cancer and he keeps taking panadol and paracetamol. You will be relieved over the short time but the long term is death. We are pleading for time from the Nigerian people. We are on the right track and we need more time.”….Seë _ Morë