Video: You cannot ask Moses to go back to Egypt – Tinubu rules out return of fuel subsidy
President Bola Tinubu
Abdullateef Fowewe
President Bola Tinubu has ruled out any return to fuel subsidy, drawing a biblical and Quranic analogy to insist that Nigeria must not reverse the policy his administration introduced in 2023.
Video: You cannot ask Moses to go back to Egypt – Tinubu rules out return of fuel subsidy
Speaking while hosting members of the City Boy Movement at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, Tinubu said he had heard political opponents promising to restore the subsidy.
“I listen to my political opponents promising the return of subsidy. I remember my scripture studies in either the Bible or the Holy Quran. When Moses left Egypt, they faced the challenge, the Red Sea parted and gave way. You cannot ask Moses to go back to Egypt,” he stated.
He added that the country risked bankruptcy if it continued paying the subsidy. “With your ideas, I came and I removed subsidy the first day. No, Nigeria will go bankrupt. There is nothing left to pay subsidy,” Tinubu said, vowing that with the support of the youth group, “never will we go back to Egypt.”
Tinubu removed the petrol subsidy on his inauguration day on 29 May 2023, declaring that “fuel subsidy is gone.”
The decision caused an immediate rise in petrol prices, transportation costs and the overall cost of living, sparking widespread public concern and sustained debate.
The government has consistently defended the move as necessary to end an unsustainable drain on public finances and free resources for infrastructure and other priorities.
The remarks come amid growing opposition campaign rhetoric ahead of the 2027 elections, with figures such as former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar promising to restore some form of subsidy support if elected.
