Femi Gbajabiamila, Chief of Staff to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has stated that the administration inherited an economy that was on the verge of collapse at the time the President assumed office.
He explained that although the economic situation was deteriorating, the President had the option of taking a politically easier route by retaining fuel subsidy payments. However, he said Tinubu chose instead to prioritise long term national stability by removing the subsidy.
Gbajabiamila made the remarks during the Working People United Good Governance summit in Abuja on Thursday, noting that while the decision has caused hardship for citizens, it was necessary to prevent a deeper crisis.
While outlining key policy decisions of the administration, he said:
“It is a fact that the subsidy, which consumed trillions of naira annually, was unsustainable and disproportionately benefited a privileged few rather than safeguarding the ordinary worker it was purported to protect.
“The foreign exchange regime, artificially sustained, was depleting our reserves and distorting our markets. Our options had become limited, and this President, to his lasting credit, chose the path of responsibility rather than the path of delay.
“The President had a choice of approaching governance, the actual one of two ways, either coming and governed as a politician or coming and governed as a statesman.
“Now the difference between the two is that whilst the politician thinks about the next election, a leader and statesman thinks about the next generation. Mr President decided to take the path of the latter.
“He decided to live as a leader and think about the next generation, now we all know that these reforms exacted a real and painful cost. Prices rose, the cost of living on families already stretched, found themselves stretched further still. It will be an insult to the collective intelligence of the Nigerian people to dismiss that hardship. And this administration will never do that.
“We have never claimed that the medicine was painless. What we have insisted upon is that our country would not have survived without it, and that the duty of a responsible government is not merely to administer the medicine, but to sit on the bedside, ease the pain, and nurse the nation, or the patient, this case the nation back to health, that is the work this administration has undertaken for the Nigerian worker, and permit me now to place some of it on record.”
Also speaking at the event, Minister of Labour and Employment Mohammad Dingyadi said governance should be measured by its impact on citizens rather than policy announcements alone.
He stated that the administration came into office with a clear understanding that sustainable development must be driven by bold reforms, inclusive growth, and a renewed social contract between government, employers, labour, and citizens.
The national coordinator of Working People United, William Akporeha, also noted that while the reforms have created economic pressure, they were necessary.
“These reforms have brought real pressure on households, workers, traders, transporters, artisans, farmers, market women, and small business owners. Food prices, transport costs, energy costs, and the general cost of living have placed heavy burdens on all of us here today, and our families. This reality cannot be denied.
“The pain is real, the hardship is real, and the concerns of the people are legitimate. Yes, for us as working people, united for good governance, the message and understanding are clear: reforms are painful, but avoiding a reform would be more dangerous.”
