Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele has explained why President Bola Tinubu had no choice but to remove the fuel subsidy, stating that its key beneficiaries were some cabal rather than ordinary Nigerians.
In a statement issued by his Directorate of Media and Public Affairs on Monday, Bamidele, who represents Ekiti Central in the Senate, emphasised that the removal was necessary, as the 9th National Assembly had only provided funds for the subsidy until May 2023.
“I am convinced that the president did the right thing by removing the fuel subsidy, for which the 9th National Assembly made provision till May 2023.
“However, the people who made governance difficult for President Tinubu were those benefiting from fuel subsidies.
“It was not common men and women of this country who were benefiting from the fuel subsidy. It was not. It was members of the cabal who had access to the fuel subsidy.
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“They are the ones taking away this privilege all in the name and on behalf of the masses. And the masses did not benefit from it. I was part of the 9th National Assembly.
“At that time, we had agreed with the executive arm that the fuel subsidy should be removed because it was no longer in the overriding interest of the country.
“The Tinubu administration acted based on the policy direction the National Assembly approved before his inauguration on May 29, 2023,” Bamidele stated.
The Senate leader further clarified that regardless of Tinubu’s announcement, the subsidy was bound to end since there were no budgetary provisions for it beyond May 2023.
He warned that retaining the subsidy would have triggered a fiscal crisis, affecting funds allocated to states and local governments.
“In the 2023 budget, the National Assembly only made provision for fuel subsidy till May 2023. Whether President Tinubu was removed at his inauguration or not, there was no longer funding for subsidy because we did not make provision for it beyond May 2023.
“He did not say he was going to remove the fuel subsidy. He simply said that the fuel subsidy was gone simply because the National Assembly only made provision for it till May 2023. Even if he did not say it, the fuel subsidy would have gone in two days after his inauguration,” Bamidele explained.
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