The Governor of Lagos, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has said that the removal of fuel subsidy by President Bola Tinubu would save Nigeria about $2.5 billion in budgetary expenditure.
Speaking in an interview on Sky News, UK, yesterday, he also said that such humongous funds could be channelled to critical areas such as health, education, and poverty reduction.
The governor said that President Tinubu displayed a strong political will by removing fuel subsidy.
He pleaded with Nigerians to be patient with the government, adding that the positive effect of subsidy removal would be evident in about a year.
Sanwo-Olu said: What Tinubu has done, no President in Nigeria has been able to take that audacity to remove the subsidy on petrol. That in itself will save the country about $2.5 dollars. These are funds that can go into other areas like education, health and poverty reduction,” Sanwo-Olu said. “What we are asking our citizens is let give the President a bit more time. He has set up a very bold and laudable agenda with his Renewed Hope program. And I believe in six months from now we’ll begin to see the relief from all of his interventions.”
The governor said Lagos State is setting up an international financial council, to ensure that it creates an investment environment for investors.
Sanwo Olu said: “The whole idea is for us to be able to let the world, starting from London, know what is happening in Lagos. The council will set up strategies where we can handhold companies, and foreign direct investors that want to come into Lagos.
“There is a lot of investment that we need to bring into the tech industry, the financial services. We want to see a lot of financial international organizations come to Lagos. We want the creative industry to also have a play in our economy.”
