Near Empty Treasury, Chaotic Economy: Tinubu Describes What He Inherited

President Bola Tinubu revealed that his administration inherited a dire financial situation, including a near-empty treasury and chaotic economy, when it took office in 2023.

Despite the challenges, Tinubu said the bold and painful reforms implemented have started showing positive results.

Speaking during a state visit to Awka, Anambra State capital, Tinubu highlighted the massive public debts, unsustainable subsidies, and unstable foreign exchange regime he inherited.

He said: “We met near-insolvent public finance, a decades-old monster of unsustainable multiple subsidies, a chaotic and debilitating forex regime.

“Just as we tamed the Atlantic in Lagos, many of these monsters have been tackled.”

The fiscal difficulties inherited from the Buhari administration, marked by ballooning public debt, soaring subsidy costs, and worsening inflation, were directly addressed by President Tinubu.

While acknowledging the rising cost of living and public discontent stemming from subsidy removal and currency devaluation, he maintained that the implemented reforms were inevitable and are now working to restore macroeconomic stability.

This marks one of his strongest public acknowledgements of the situation he faced upon taking office.

“These reforms are difficult, yes, but inevitable. Courage and our collective action were required to confront them in order to lay a strong foundation for a more stable, prosperous, and inclusive economy.”

The President, who was on his first official visit to Anambra since assuming office, inaugurated major infrastructure projects executed by the Governor Chukwuma Charles Soludo administration including the Solution Fun City and the new Government House mini-city.

He praised Soludo’s vision of transforming Anambra into an “African-Dubai-Taiwan-Silicon Valley” and stated that the Federal Government would continue to support the state, particularly in the areas of security, infrastructure, and investment in technology and manufacturing.

Tinubu also noted that his administration had renegotiated and passed a new minimum wage law to cushion the impact of the reforms on workers, commending the state government for implementing and even exceeding the N70,000 national minimum wage benchmark.

Persecondnews reports that the highpoint of the visit was the conferment of a chieftaincy title on the president by all traditional rulers in Anambra.

Expressing his gratitude, Tinubu deemed the recognition a landmark moment, declaring himself a “true son of the land.”

He then playfully requested Governor Soludo to provide him with land, envisioning building his retirement residence within the state.