President Tinubu Rejects Subsidies and Declares Age of Prosperity

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu rejected calls to restore fuel and foreign exchange subsidies during a nationwide broadcast marking Nigeria's 66th Independence Anniversary in Abuja. Using medical analogies, Tinubu described previous subsidies as morphine that dulled the pain of a cancerous economy without curing it, arguing that returning to such measures would undo three years of stabilization. He characterized the removal of petrol subsidies and the unification of the exchange rate as necessary economic surgery to address decades of structural decay.

Tinubu declared that the period of emergency stabilization is over and the country has entered an age of prosperity. He cited macroeconomic gains to justify his fiscal discipline, including a GDP growth rate exceeding 4 percent and non-oil export revenues surpassing $6 billion in 2025. He stated the government will now shift its focus toward targeted relief in transport, agriculture, and youth employment.

Opposition figures challenged these claims, arguing that macroeconomic data does not reflect the lived experience of citizens struggling with high food and transport costs. Atiku Abubakar, a presidential candidate for the African Democratic Congress, questioned the reality of this prosperity. Other critics faulted the administration for failing to provide a detailed plan to combat rising insecurity or address the national public debt of N166.79 trillion.