L-R..On left side: Reuben Abati (Moderator) Maupe Ogun-Yusuf, Nnamdi Odikpo
To the Right: Babajide Kolade-Otitoju, Ruth Olurounbi, Azu Ishiekwene and Farouk Umar Farouk interviewing President Bola Tinubu during the Presidential Media Chat on Monday in Lagos

In his first media chat which was broadcast nationwide, President Bola Tinubu said the effectiveness is what matters, not the pruning of the number of ministers.

According to the president, Nigeria is a big country and required enough and competent hands for it to be well governed.

He said the size of the cabinet was determined by the size of the country. The president added that each member of the cabinet was adding value to the governance, hence, the idea of reducing the size was not attractive to him.

 His words: “Let’s talk about efficiency. They are all adding value.”

The president also spoke on the tax reform bills which have generated controversy across the country.

In response to a question, the president asserted that the reform had come to stay.

He said it would be wrong to do things the old way and expect to get a different result.

“We can’t continue to do what we were doing.  We can’t retool this economy with the old method. It is about what Nigeria needs.

“A new dawn is here. I am convinced and you should help to propagate that conviction,” he said.

On the palliatives distribution stampedes that caused many deaths, the President said sympathised with families who lost their loved ones. The stampedes, according to him, were avoidable.

In his words: “Are we looking at it from organisers’ point of view or are you looking at it from the goodwill gesture of the people trying to give out whatever they have?

“It is very sad that people are not well-organised. We just have to be more disciplined in our society,” he said.

“I have been giving out foodstuffs, commodities, clothing and envelopes for the past 25 years. I’ve never experienced this kind of incident because we are organised.

“We have to be disciplined as a country. If you don’t have enough to give, don’t attempt to even give or publicise it.

“Every society, even in America and Britain, they have food banks. They have hungry people. They have warehouses, but they are organised; they take tokens to be on the line to collect,” he said.

He likened the stampedes to what usually happens at bus stops in the country where people don’t want to be on the queue.

“It is very sad, but it is an opportunity to learn from our mistakes.

“To me, I see this as a very grave error on the part of the organisers. But things are improving. It doesn’t kill our happiness for this season,” Tinubu said.

Media Chat: In Tinubu’s Words

*2025 is a very promising year. Let me first of all thank Nigerians for having confidence in me to be the President of Nigeria. I don’t want you to think that I take you for granted. I am here to serve and I will do it with all my heart. I seek your cooperation. I understand the problems you have been through. It is just 18 months since I took over. The promise is there. We / stay the course and maintain focus; share love with each other. Let us believe in ourselves. Tomorrow will bring a new dawn.

*I have been doing palliatives for the past 25 years, giving out envelopes in Boudllion and nobody died. Stampede was a result of poor organization

*I don’t spend in Dollars. I know only Naira.

*I need that large cabinet. Okay, how many stewards can serve over 200m Nigerians?

*Tax reforms have come to stay but on VAT rates, the debate continues.

“Tax reform is here to stay. In today’s economy, we cannot continue to do what we were doing in the past. We can’t retool with old and broken folks.

*The essence of tax reform is to eliminate colonial-based assumptions in our tax environment…

*You can’t satisfy uniformly the largest community of tax evaders. Look at this tax reform; it is pro-poor. The vulnerable are not to pay taxes…

“Tax matters are subject of debates, reviews, and negotiations until you reach a consensus. I don’t mind cutting the edges.”

*Borrowing is not a criminal venture, just match your borrowing with capital projects.

*Don’t do farming like my ancestors, I am bringing 2,000 tractors to Nigeria. Security is improving. We can travel nowadays. I will clear the bandits and the terrorists in 2025.

*The man laboured in vain, we have collected the 735 houses from him. We collected so many assets from him. I will get many assets from the corrupt civil servants, EFCC will soon announce them.

*I have no regrets removing the subsidy, I can’t be a father Christmas to the neighboring countries. By the way, I saw a friend who has 5 limos, but moving about in a low fuel consumption Honda Accord. He could not afford the fuel for the limos.

*We Won’t Control Prices To Reduce Food Costs