President Bola Tinubu on Friday said though soaring petrol price is affecting Nigerians, they should thank God because they are better off than citizens of other African countries.

Mr Tinubu in his speech at Bayelsa State on Friday said, “I hear you from various angles of the economy. The fuel price is biting hard, but look around, let’s just thank God together that you are better off.

“Listen to them in Kenya, in other African countries, what they are going through. We will not look back. We will continue to find ways to ameliorate the suffering of the vulnerable. This is a government that cares.

“I am glad the Head of Service is here. Look at the numbers with the finance, economic planning, and budgeting, and we will see what we can do to ease the burden.

He added, “But that is the development; the burden of it is what we are facing today. The challenge of the war we didn’t call for, but the effect of the interrelated world that we share. Both the joy and pain of it are universal.”

On May 29, 2023, on Mr Tinubu’s inauguration, he declared “subsidy is gone,” ending fuel subsidy, a move that saw pump price rise from N145 to above N1,200. 

Though petrol price dropped to N850, it recently skyrocketed to N1,370 amid disruptions in global oil and gas market cause by U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran on February 28.