President Bola Tinubu on Monday said the Federal Government of Nigeria has saved N1tn in the two months since the removal of the petrol subsidy.

Tinubu said these monies that would have been otherwise squandered by those he called “smugglers and fraudsters” will now be channeled into intervention programmes targeting families nationwide

“In a little over two months, we have saved over a trillion Naira that would have been squandered on the unproductive fuel subsidy which only benefitted smugglers and fraudsters,” Tinubu said in his nationwide broadcast on current economic challenges in the country.

While acknowledging the hardship occasioned by an unavoidable lag in palliative measures these past 62 days, he urged Nigerians to “look beyond the present temporary pains and aim at the larger picture.”

“I plead with you to please have faith in our ability to deliver and in our concern for your well-being.

“All of our good and helpful plans are in the works. More importantly, I know that they will work,” he affirmed.

He said the funds so far saved from subsidy removal “will now be used more directly and more beneficially for you and your families.”

The President also promised to get the nation out of this economic turbulence through the measures his administration has taken so far.