Former President, Olusegun Obasanjo has faulted President Bola Tinubu’s claim that fuel subsidy was permanently removed.
He said the subsidy which was abolished by the Tinubu-led government in 2023, has been reinstated due to soaring inflation.
Obasanjo’s disposition contradicts Tinubu’s declaration during his inaugural address on May 29, 2023, that fuel subsidy had been permanently removed.
The subsidy’s removal led to a significant increase in petrol prices, from around N200 to over N600 per litre.
In an interview with the Financial Times, Obasanjo criticized the government’s approach to removing the subsidy, arguing that measures should have been put in place before its removal.
However, he noted that the subsidy had effectively been reintroduced due to the current high inflation rate.
“There’s a lot of work that needs to be done. Not just wake up one morning and say you removed the subsidy. Because of inflation, the subsidy that we have removed is not gone. It has come back,” Obasanjo said.
He also highlighted the need for investor confidence in Nigeria, stating that: “You have to go from a transactional economy to a transformational economy.”
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One of the key demands of the ongoing nationwide protests is the reinstatement of the fuel subsidy regime.
However, in his recent Sunday broadcast, President Tinubu categorically ruled out the possibility of reviving the fuel subsidy.
He described the decision to remove the subsidy as “painful but necessary”, emphasizing that it had been a major obstacle to economic growth and development, likening it to a “noose around the economic jugular of our nation.”
He reaffirmed his commitment to good administration, transparency, and accountability, imagining a thriving society in which every person may enjoy peace, freedom, and a meaningful livelihood.
The President lamented the immediate inconveniences caused by the reduction of fuel subsidy, but emphasized that it was critical to solve long-term economic issues.
“For decades, our economy has remained anemic and taken a dip because of many misalignments that have stunted our growth. Just over a year ago, our dear country, Nigeria, reached a point where we couldn’t afford to continue the use of temporary solutions to solve long-term problems for the sake of now and our unborn generations.
“I therefore took the painful yet necessary decision to remove fuel subsidies and abolish multiple foreign exchange systems which had constituted a noose around the economic jugular of our Nation and impeded our economic development and progress.
“These actions blocked the greed and the profits that smugglers and rent-seekers made. They also blocked the undue subsidies we had extended to our neighboring countries to the detriment of our people, rendering our economy prostrate.
“These decisions I made were necessary if we must reverse the decades of economic mismanagement that didn’t serve us well. Yes, I agree, the buck stops on my table.
“But I can assure you that I am focused fully on delivering the governance to the people – good governance for that matter.”
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