* Scores self high on performance
* Claims Nigeria on recovery path despite criticisms
President Bola Tinubu, on Monday night, unequivocally responded to critics who described his government’s size as “bloated”, saying he is unprepared to reduce the size of his 48-man cabinet.
“I am not ready to shrink” the size of my cabinet, Tinubu said during a media chat at his Bourdillon residence in the highbrow Ikoyi area of Lagos State.
“I am not prepared to bring down the size of my cabinet,” the former Lagos governor said, arguing that “efficiency” has been at the core of his selection of ministers.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) powerhouse also said he has no regret removing the petrol subsidy in May 2023, saying Nigeria cannot continue to be Father Christmas to neighbouring countries.
“I don’t have any regrets whatsoever in removing petrol subsidy. We are spending our future, we were just deceiving ourselves, that reform was necessary,” he told the panel of journalists.
Tinubu appointed 48 ministers in August 2023, three months after his inauguration. The Senate immediately screened and confirmed the ministers. One of the ministers, Betta Edu, was suspended in January while another, Simon Lalong, moved to the Senate.
There were calls for the President to reshuffle his cabinet as many Nigerians have not been impressed by the performance of some of the ministers, especially in the face of unprecedented inflation, excruciating economic situation and rising insecurity.
In October 2024, Tinubu re-assigned 10 ministers to new ministerial portfolios and appointed seven new ministers for Senate confirmation. He also sacked five of his ministers but critics insist that the President’s cabinet remains large, especially with the creation of a Livestock Ministry with a minister.
Asked to reflect on the touchy issue as petrol subsidy, which he yanked off on the day of his inauguration, President Tinubu said he has no regrets about removing petrol subsidy in May 2023, insisting that Nigeria cannot continue to be Father Christmas to neighbouring countries.
“I don’t have any regrets whatsoever in removing petrol subsidy. We are spending our future, we were just deceiving ourselves, that reform was necessary,” the former Governor of Lagos State told journalists during a media chat on Monday at his Bourdillon residence in the highbrow Ikoyi area.
Tinubu said petrol subsidy removal some 18 months ago have increased competition within the sector and that the pump price of petrol has gradually crashed. “The market is being saturated. No monopoly, no oligopoly, a free market economy flowing,” he said.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain also said he does not believe in price control and he won’t go that path. “I don’t believe in price control, we will work hard to supply the market,” he said.
Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, faces energy challenges, with all its state-owned refineries non-operational. The country is heavily reliant on imported refined petroleum products, with the state-run NNPC being the major importer of the essential commodities.
Fuel queues are commonplace in the country. Prices of petrol soared since the removal of subsidy in May 2023, from around N200/litre to over N1,000/litre, compounding the woes of the citizens who power their vehicles, and generating sets with petrol, no thanks to decades-long epileptic electricity supply.
The government simultaneously unified forex windows, with the value of the naira nose-diving terribly from $1/N700 to over $1/1600 at the parallel market. Prices of food and basic commodities immediately climbed through the roof as Nigerians battled attendant inflation.
On the recent Tax Reforms Bills, Tinubu insisted that there is no going back on the legislation, despite the recriminations that have trailed the piece of legislation, which he forwarded to the National Assembly on October 3, 2024.
“Tax reform is here to stay; we cannot just continue to do what we were doing years to years in today’s economy. We cannot retool this economy with the old broken books, and I believe I have that capacity that is why I went into the race,” Tinubu said.
“I am focused on what Nigeria needs and what I must do for Nigeria, it is not just going to be eldorado for everybody, but the new dawn is here, I am convinced, and you should be convinced.”