Former presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, has said there is nothing wrong with the removal of fuel subsidy, but President Bola Tinubu’s approach to implementing it was flawed.
Speaking in an interview with Arise Television on Monday, Obi maintained that while he supports subsidy removal in principle, it should have been done in a planned and structured manner to avoid the economic hardship currently affecting Nigerians.
Obi said, “I’ve consistently maintained that I would have removed the fuel subsidy. If you go to my manifesto, it’s there, steps I would have taken to do it in an organised manner.”
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He acknowledged that the subsidy regime was riddled with corruption and needed to be ended, but stressed that Tinubu’s abrupt removal lacked proper implementation strategies.
“There is nothing wrong in the removal of subsidy; what is wrong is the haphazard way in which it was announced and implemented,” he said.
“Everybody knows that the subsidy regime was that of criminality.
“As outlined in my manifesto, I would have implemented subsidy removal in a structured and organised manner.”
Obi further criticised the Tinubu administration for not channeling the savings from subsidy removal into vital sectors that would benefit the masses.
“However, the savings from subsidy removal from the Tinubu administration are not being reflected in critical areas of human development, such as education, health, and poverty alleviation,” he added.
Recall that President Tinubu had announced the end of the fuel subsidy regime during his inauguration in May 2023, drawing both support and widespread criticism over the timing and impact of the decision.
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