By Uzair Adam
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has criticized the manner in which President Bola Tinubu’s administration removed the fuel subsidy in 2023.
In an interview with the Financial Times, Obasanjo argued that the government should have implemented certain measures before taking such a drastic step.
Obasanjo emphasized that the sudden removal of the subsidy led to a significant rise in petrol prices, from about N200 to over N600 per litre.
He noted that the subsidy, which was declared “gone” by Tinubu during his inaugural address on May 29, 2023, has now effectively been reintroduced due to inflation.
“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 stated.
He further highlighted the need for investor confidence in Nigeria, stating, “You have to go from a transactional economy to a transformational economy.”
The Daily Reality reports that among the demands of the ongoing nationwide protest is the reinstatement of the fuel subsidy.
However, in a recent broadcast, President Tinubu dismissed the possibility of bringing back the subsidy.
He described the decision to remove it as painful but essential, stating that it had been a “noose around the economic jugular of our nation” and had stifled economic growth and progress.