Come clean on fuel subsidy removal — Atiku tells Tinubu

…Alleges illegitimate diversion of funds

…Tinubu placed his re-election on the line to drive reforms — Info Minister

Former Vice President and Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 election, Atiku Abubakar, has urged Nigeria’s President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu to come clean on the status of the removal of fuel subsidy.

The removal of fuel subsidy which the President announced an end in his inauguration speech in May 2023 has continued to generate several controversies on the true state of the policy.

Nigeria in previous years according to our research was spending over $6 billion yearly on servicing fuel subsidy. However, some political actors and oil stakeholders have at different foras disagreed that the government has put a halt on the payment of subsidies.

The latest of this emerged from reports alleging that the Minister of Finance, Mr Wale Edun said that the country has earmarked over N5.4 trillion for subsidy payments.

However, in a swift reaction, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Mr Bayo Onanuga dispelled the notion noting that fuel subsidy payments remain halted as declared by the President.

According to Onanuga, “The attention of the Presidency has been drawn to two fiscal policy documents in circulation that are being given wide coverage by the mainstream media and social media platforms.

“One of the documents titled Inflation Reduction and Price Stability (Fiscal Policy Measure etc) Order 2024 is being shared as if it were an executive order signed by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

“The other is a 65-page draft document with the title Accelerated Stabilisation and Advancement Plan (ASAP), which contains suggestions on how to improve the Nigerian economy. President Tinubu received a copy of the draft on Tuesday.”

“We urge the public and the media to disregard the two documents and cease further discussions on them. None is an approved official document of the Federal Government of Nigeria. They are all policy proposals that are still subject to reviews at the highest level of government. Indeed, one has ‘draft’ clearly written on it.”

Reacting, Atiku via his media office in a statement yesterday accused the Bola Tinubu administration of diverting public funds through petrol subsidy, hence the refusal of the government to reveal how much is being spent on subsidy.

The former Vice President said the clandestine subsidy regime was one of the reasons investments in the oil sector had refused to come in.

He said, “Tinubu has brought the shady nature of running Lagos to the federal level. He claims subsidy is gone but his Special Adviser on Energy, Olu Verheijen, says they are intervening from time to time while his Finance Minister, Wale Edun, described subsidy removal as an ‘ongoing process’. A document authored by the Coordinating Minister of the Economy revealing how much subsidy is being paid is now being disowned by the very authors of the document.

“Both the World Bank and the IMF have revealed in separate reports that Nigeria is still paying petrol subsidies, but the Tinubu government refuses to come clean. Even a senior member of the APC had revealed that subsidy was being paid.

“For a man who claims to be on a mission to attract foreign direct investment, it is ironic that he cannot see that his policy flip flops and lies are capable of dissuading investors. He must come clean on this subsidy issue since he doubles as petroleum minister. The Tinubu administration should be courageous enough to own their policies and outcome with their full chest and responsible enough to be accountable for their actions to Nigerians.

“This denial lends credence that money meant for the Federation Account, which ought to be shared to states and local governments, is being diverted without any form of accountability whatsoever,” He noted.

The former VP further urged the National Assembly to get to the bottom of the matter noting that it has been focusing on frivolous issues.

“The National Assembly needs to be alive to its responsibilities, especially in the area of oversight. Posterity will not be kind to members of the National Assembly if they continue to look the other way while daylight robbery is taking place,” the former Vice President said.

In the same vein, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris in an opinion piece stated that President Tinubu has placed his credibility and re-election on the line in order to deliver on his reforms.

Idris noted that , “For decades politicians of all parties could see this reckless subsidy was killing the economy and the federal budget while being widely abused for profit. Its end was repeatedly promised, but never brought.

“The same has been the case with floating our currency, the Naira – a decision repeatedly delayed. Instead, we continued to artificially prop up the exchange rate – leading to a further and constant draining of the national budget while creating a black market in money exchange. No country in the world is free of politicians ducking hard political decisions.

“What is different is that now, nearly a generation after the return of democracy, Nigeria has a president willing put his credibility and re-election on the line to drive through the reforms which are needed,” he said.

Defending the President, the Minister argued that other political leaders have attempted some of the reforms the Tinubu administration has initiated but they left it late in their terms in office – when political determination and public goodwill is sapped for every politician the world over.

“They may have had the way, but no longer possessed the will, to drive them through,” He continued.

“Instead, President Tinubu has taken decisive action at the beginning of his first term in office. He is using the political capital flowing from his election as head of state of the world’s fourth largest democracy – and using it now – while the currents remain strongest and public support is highest,” Idris said.

He added further that more difficult decisions lie ahead before Nigeria is reshaped and growing economically to the benefit of its citizens and the wider continent of Africa.