A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Osita Okechukwu, has called on the Presidential Economic Team (PET) to be fair to Nigerians amid hardship affecting citizens.
Okechukwu decried that some members of the PET could not give full details of revenues the country was getting from the removed fuel subsidy.
OsunDailyNG reported on Friday that the Minister of Finance and Coordinating of the Economy, Wale Edun, along with the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Atiku Bagudu, demanded a closed-door session when grilled about revenue from removed fuel subsidy during the National Assembly Joint Committee on Budget and Finance meeting.
In an open letter on Sunday, the former Director General of Voice of Nigeria (VON) accused the economic team of derailing the economic policies of President Bola Tinubu.
“May I humbly appeal via this Open Letter and earnestly urge the Presidential Economic Team to patriotically consider the gruesome economic hardship in the land, so as to stop derailing President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda meant to uplift millions out of poverty.
“Am making this humble appeal because am not the only foundation member of the APC who wants our great party to succeed; albeit many do not want our great to go into 2027 general elections limping in the midst of widespread discontent, despondency and despair.
“Secondly, one sincerely thinks that President Tinubu means well and wants to successfully consolidate the neoliberal capitalist system by taking bold decisions to bolster economic resorgimento in Nigeria via his Renewed Hope Agenda.
“Luckily for us Nigerians, President Tinubu has harvested the fine tenets of classical Non-Alignment-Doctrine; consequent upon his cordial diplomatic relationship with the West and the East.
“Hence Mr President in spite of the economic hardship and gross inequality has mobilised all the necessary international powers to utilise our demographic youth advantage in an aging world to consolidate the CHANGE our great party APC pledged in July 2013,” he said.
Even Abacha Used Fuel Subsidy Money To Help Citizens
The All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain called on the economic team to work towards alleviating the country’s hardships.
He noted that under the Late General Sani Abacha’s regime, revenue generated from the removal of fuel subsidies was managed with accountability.
It continued, “This is why am appealing to the Presidential Economic Team to reverse their gear and listen to Albeit Einstein’s admonition; that it’s illogical doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Therefore let’s assist Mr President to succeed and pull out of this adverse economic condition so that Nigerians can breathe.
“Accordingly, this why as a roadside political economist am crying out in pain over the inadvertent derailing of the Renewed Hope Agenda. For am yet to reconcile how the program could be successfully executed when only 25% of the 2024 Capital Budget was released; moreover when we are regrettably operating multi-budgets.
“Paradoxically the derailing is going on despite huge debts, increased tariffs, excessive taxation and the fact that all revenue generating agencies – NNPC, Nigeria Customs, FIRS had exceeded their 2024 targets – N13.1trillion vs N12.3trillion, N5.352trillion vs N5.09trillion and N5.7trillion vs N4.0trillion respectively.
“One recalls with nostalgia President Tinubu’s July 2023 profound broadcast statement on why he removed the fuel subsidy, quote interalia, ‘To be blunt, Nigeria could never become the society it was intended to be as long as such small, powerful yet unelected groups hold enormous influence over our political economy and the institutions that govern it:
“The whims of the few should never hold dominant sway over the hopes and aspirations of the many. If we are to be a democracy, the people and not the power of money must be sovereign.
“This group had amassed so much wealth and power that they became a serious threat to the fairness of our economy and the integrity of our democratic governance.
“Is it not the same train of absurd Mr President frowned at that the Presidential Economic Team is boarding by not instantly and publicly disclosing how much that accrued from Fuel Subsidy removal; when the Joint Appropriation, Budget and Finance Committees of the National Assembly demanded it last week?
“The Presidential Economic Team, should kindly remember that even the late military Head of State, General Sani Abacha diligently utilsed monies which accrued from his fuel subsidy removal with social and physical infrastructure via the Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF), which was beneficial to Nigerians.
“My humble submission is that the Presidential Economic Team should not forget that Mr President’s statement above presupposes that he wants to seamlessly win the 2027 presidential election and end up 2nd Term as a progressive statesman.”
