Nigerian president justifies removal of fuel subsidy

Nigerian President Bola Tinubu addressed the nation in an evening broadcast on Monday, acknowledging the economic hardship caused by the removal of a subsidy on petrol.

He however said the country would save "trillions of naira" yearly by scrapping the subsidy and that the money would be used to implement reforms that would help boost the economy.

Ending the decades-long subsidy has more than doubled the price of petrol and raised prices for food and other essentials.

But Tinubu said the government had created a fund to use the savings to build much-needed infrastructure and supply cheap loans to farmers, small businesses and students.

He said the government would monitor petrol prices and intervene if and when it was necessary to do so.

"I assure you, my fellow countrymen and women, that we are exiting the darkness to enter a new and glorious dawn," he said at the end of his address.