Tinubu resumes duties, meets Emefiele, Kyari

President Bola Tinubu has arrived at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, his first official day after his inauguration as President of Nigeria.

Tinubu, who arrived at the Villa at 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday, May 30, was received at the forecourt of his office by Vice President Kashim Shettima; the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila; and the Permanent Secretary of the State House, Tijjani Umar.

Others were the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele; the Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) Mele Kyari; former Lagos State Commissioner for Finance, Wale Edun; and Dele Alake.

It was gathered that the president would hold a meeting with Kyari and Emefiele over the crisis that trailed the removal of the subsidy on petrol.

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President Tinubu, in his inaugural speech shortly after his swearing-in in Abuja on Monday, May 29, declared that “fuel subsidy is gone”.

He stated that there was no provision for fuel subsidy in the budget he is inheriting from his predecessor, Muhammadu Buhari.

The president said the money being spent on subsidy would be channelled to other use, especially on education, health, and infrastructure.

“We commend the decision of the outgoing administration in phasing out the petrol subsidy regime which has increasingly favoured the rich more than the poor.

“Subsidy can no longer justify its ever-increasing costs in the wake of drying resources. We shall instead re-channel the funds into better investment in public infrastructure, education, health care and jobs that will materially improve the lives of millions,” he had said.

The declaration has since generated mixed feelings as the effect was being felt with oil marketers and filling stations shutting down, resulting in queues, while some stations had already hiked their prices.

The Star