Garba Shehu, spokesperson for former President `Muhammadu Buhari, `has revealed that the immediate past Nigerian leader had started removing “subsidies” in 2015 when he emerged as the country’s president.
“The massive electricity subsidy. The fraudulent fertiliser subsidy. Hajj/Christian Pilgrim subsidies. Remember them? The diesel subsidy. The aviation fuel subsidy. LPFO. Kerosene. Cooking gas and the other subsidy policies we found in place, and put them firmly on the ground. Remember them?
“For those with short memories, many of those subsidies were all in place when President Buhari was elected to office in 2015: all those in place were gone by May 2023 – including the annual fertilizer subsidy that weighed 60-100 billion Naira (that’s trillion naira in about 10 years – yes you read that right) heavy on the federal budget each year,” he said in series of tweet on Monday.
Mr Shehu, who spoke on the backdrop of the removal of fuel subsidy by Mr Buhari’s successor, Bola Tinubu, said although his ex-boss did not remove the subsidy on petrol, but removed electricity, fertiliser subsidies, among others, for the interest of Nigeria.
Mr Tinubu, a member of the governing All Progressives Congress (APC) with Mr Buhari, had, during his inauguration, announced the removal of fuel subsidy as the current 2023 budget he glimpsed does not contain it.
Although, the current 2023 budget has provision for the fuel subsidy till June.
But Mr Tinubu declared that the funds for subsidies would now be diverted to other things like public infrastructure, education, health care and jobs.
“We shall, instead, re-channel the funds into better investment in public infrastructure, education, health care and jobs that will materially improve the lives of millions,” the president added.
The federal government had, in the past, subsidised fuel and fixed retail prices of petroleum products in the country.
Although, the payment has threatened the nation’s fiscal position and impacted the government’s ability to fund developmental projects across the nation.
Tweeting further, Mr Shehu said the decision to remove subsidies in the past regime of Mr Buhari was not for the ex-President to take all by himself.
He explained, “So far, I have refrained from answering these repeated questions on the removal in Nigeria of subsidies on Premium Motor Spirit, PMS and that arising from the dual rates of the Naira in the Central Bank and the parallel market: Why did Buhari “fail” to do these?
“In terms of the timings of the decisions to remove fuel subsidy and unify the currency, the Tinubu/Shettima administration has done overwhelmingly well. Even more importantly, they have been most dexterous in managing the aftermath of the decisions by successfully avoiding any crisis.”
“In the view of many-including those in the security circles- only a new administration with a goodwill that fills a warehouse can attempt this, and here now comes in the wit and grit of the Tinubu government,” he added in the tweet.
