President Bola Tinubu’s first media chat on Monday addressed significant issues concerning the country’s development and growth and offered explanations of his economic policies’ philosophy. The President scored himself high on policies and performance eighteen months in the saddle.

The media chat, the first since the president’s inauguration on  May 29, 2023, is coming amid agitations from Nigerians grappling with the effect of the reformation, which does not preclude the removal of fuel subsidies.

The presidential media chat, which aired on Monday at 9:00 p.m., focused on national issues and recent occurrences across the country.

On the stampedes that killed some Nigerians in Oyo, Abuja, and Anambra states while struggling for food and cash palliatives,  the president blamed the organisers of such events for inadequate coordination and general indiscipline.  

“It is very sad that people are not well organized; we have to be more disciplined. Condolences, it is good to give. I have been giving in for the past 25 years. Even in America, there are food banks for hungry people. It is very sad, but we continue to learn from our mistakes. I will blame the organisers. I see this as a very great error on the part of the organisers if you don’t have enough, don’t publicise.”

Justifying  Removal of  Fuel Subsidy
“We were spending our future, not investing in our future… that reform was necessary. I could see the smugglers fighting back, but that is not my problem. That is their problem.  

“I don’t have any regrets whatsoever in removing the subsidy. Pacing the removal in segment is part of the fear. Whether you segment it or not, you will still meet there. We must cut our coats according to our sizes.  We must manage; management is the issues we Not just for us but for our children and grandchildren, where is the prosperity and headway”.

On Debt Servicing and Borrowing
“Borrowing is not criminal; we have come from a mismatch of our needs. We have a serious infrastructure deficit;  we don’t put money on a long-term project basis or have a short-term to manage long-term projects.  Yes, we have threaded the wrong roads in the past; I don’t want to look at that; I want to look at prosperity for our country; I want to look at today.  What is the way to look at it? capital project Our roads are terrible, and our internet is not at the level we want as a technology-driven nation. We are still indebted to our electricity generation. You have to take it with two hands and braze up for a very strong push.  We share the same value; we want this country to grow, and there is no way to do it unless we invest in our today prosperity and opportunity”.

On Insecurity
“Today, I have confidence in my security architecture. It is very unfortunate that 2 decades of wanton killing. When I jumped into the campaigns, I had to stop the campaign and go for condolence visits in Maiduguri Katsina, Kaduna. Today, you can still travel the roads. Before now, it was impossible. It takes an incident to mess up an organised environment. You cannot say the military was not prepared when the 9 brigades was attacked; you cannot laugh at your nation because of that.  The enemies within and without are watching 

“About borrowing, today from 98 percent of debt service, I brought it down to 68 percent—or thereabouts. Give credit,”. “We are managing it. We have exited what used to be the problem of ways and means. “More money is going down for development, and more revenue generated is being distributed. We have autonomy for local government. “Those of you will remember my argument and lamentation with Obasanjo about the need for grassroots development when I created 37 local government development areas in Lagos. Go there now, and you will see development.

“I will say I am drawing water from the dry well regardless of the critics; this is the budget of restoration of hopes. “Regardless of critics, this is a project of restoration and hope. And that Nigeria is on the path of recovery.”

“We cannot fight this war without Investment in technology, weaponry, and training. There might be leakages, but we have put very effective mechanisms in place to monitor the project, and they are being judiciously used.  Consider the welfare of our service men and women; they live and operate in very serious conditions. We are a huge country with lots of forests of unoccupied spaces. Give us credit for what we are doing. There is no need to probe them

On bringing inflation down in the 2025 budget, produce more. There should be more consumption locally. Stop imports, give a reasonable levy on bonding with low interest, improve security so that people can return to the farms to Produce more food, and encourage the procurement and manufacturing of drugs in Nigeria. All I need to do is give them incentives to harness what is possible. It is about time we do all of those and bring the cost of government down.

“On drug production, we are talking of agriculture, export  incentives harnessing our marine ecosystem, bring affordable transportation. 

Direct Investment and attraction

“We should give incentives to auto manufacturing. We have solid minerals , Kaduna has the largest deposit of lithium, and Nassarawa the same thing. If we encourage electric vehicles plus the compressive natural gas, it will attract the automobile assembly instead of the second-hand market, which is not creating jobs for us. Tax incentives, tax holidays, tax rebates, manageable PAYEs, and many cross-based economic programmes attract foreign Investment.”

On Tax Reform and cutting the cabinets

“I’m not prepared to bring down the size of my cabinet. I saw the need before putting them together, “You don’t give somebody an assignment they cannot fulfill. No. The job description must be efficient and effective.

“You don’t give somebody an assignment that they cannot fulfil. No. The job description must be efficient and effective. “Nigeria is a large country. If you are to entertain over 100 million people, just on entertainment. Calculate how many stewards you would require. “Let’s pay attention to efficiency. Efficiency and effectiveness are the hallmarks of the philosophy behind that cabinet. I’m not ready to shrink a little bit of it. I need them. Show me one (that is not adding value).”

“Tax reform is here to stay.  We cannot continue to do what we used to do in the yesteryears In today’s economy, we cannot continue to do what we were doing in the past. We can’t retool with old and broken folks,” he said.

“The essence of tax reform is to eliminate colonial-based assumptions in our tax environment. “Every tax situation without outcry is not a tax. You can’t satisfy uniformly the larger community of tax evaders. Look at this tax reform; it is pro-poor. The vulnerable are not to pay taxes.  All we ask for is to widen the net and bake the cake larger to share a larger meal. What is in it? They will still have for this consultation if I delay it. The hallmark of a good leader is the ability to do what you have to do when it ought to be done. That is my philosophy.” You have given me the mandate to govern; let me stay within the limit of my capacity, and I believe I have that capacity. I am focused on what Nigerians need, and I on Nigerians. It will not just be eldorado; a new dawn is here.”. 

On How Dollars to Naira Exchange Rate Affects the Budget Deficit

“I don’t spend in dollars. I only associate with it because of global transactions. But for Naira, it’s okay even if the target of this administration is based upon what we earn in dollars converted to Naira. When you look at the petroleum revenue

“Today, I can tell you, push me to my brag mode; in the last three months, I have not taken a penny from NNPC before I met my other obligations. That is excellent; I have met all obligations without falling back to the old order or into ways and means.”

On Livestock Farming and Clashes Between Farmers and Herders with Food Security

It is sad to look back and very promising to look forward to what we are doing now. There was never a ministry of livestock. Livestock can turn disaster into prosperity. We have what it takes: we have the arable lands, we have the animal stocks. Just remove the conflicting elements and commercialise the ventures. Why not take advantage of that? We can feed ourselves, export, and feed other nations.

On Price Control

“I don’t believe in price control. I’m sorry. What we have to do is keep supplying the market.” It will come to a stage orice cannot hold anymore and the economic variables will work against you. For example, the fuel prices and the petrol pump, I introduced Naira for Dollars change for weeks, they did not want to comply I left it to free market, now the prices are coming down. The market is being saturated.

On Fighting  Corruption

“Why are people  corrupt? Lack of social amenities, in some areas, lack of funding for their education. There are so many anti-corruption measures you can put in place that will help people not to be corrupt. Pay them good and living wages; I have moved from 35000 to 70,000; to me, that’s anti-corruption. I am giving more money to the state and local government levels. I am transparent with my earnings; every month there is communication to how much this country is making . Disclosures and the ability to stem corruption are part of the EFCC’s job, which is why they are discovering all sorts of inefficiencies in the system. Block all the loopholes where anybody can just game the system.

Part of anti-corruption, removal of fuel subsidy is anti-corruption. it is very difficult to say you will eliminate, but you will reduce it to the barest minimum. Meet the peoples’s needs, help them grow. Our student loan is also part of anti-corruption.”