Atiku accuses Tinubu of misfiring by plunging Nigerians into more hardship
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar has knocked Bola Tinubu for having “misfired” on fuel subsidy, his first decision as President, which has landed Nigerians in more hardship.
Tinubu’s announcement in his inaugural speech on May 29 that fuel “subsidy is gone” has triggered fuel price hike from N195 per litre to between N500 and N800 in parts of the country, with across the board multiplier effects on transport costs and on the prices of goods and services.
Tinubu said there is no provision for subsidy in the federal budget from June 2023 and, therefore, it stands removed.
But Atiku countered through his aide, Daniel Bwala, that Tinubu should have implemented deliverables to cushion the effect of subsidy removal before making the declaration.
He said both Tinubu and his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), failed to provide deliverables before removing subsidy because they want Nigerians to suffer.
“If you don’t know strategy, you suffer political tragedy. The first executive decision of @officialABAT was misfired; not a good sign for him and his economic whisperers. Although all candidates agree on the removal of fuel subsidy, albeit they differ in the procedure,” Bwala wrote in a tweet.
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No excuse for APC policy gaffes
“There is no excuse for this policy gaffe because it was a transition between APC @OfficialAPCNg @MBuhari to APC @OfficialAPCNg @officialABAT in which there were comprehensive transition meetings where enough briefings on the travails of the past administration in dealing with fuel subsidy were shared,” Bwala said, Daily Post.
“From when fuel subsidy removal was legislated to date, enough time was had to have provided robust and workable deliverables for cushioning the effect, yet because APC pride on afflicting Nigerians with holocaust hardship they chose that path. They just love to grab power without concrete plans for economic recovery.”
Sani tasks Tinubu to neuralise fuel subsidy racketeers
However, former Senator Shehu Sani has applauded Tinubu for yanking off fuel subsidy from the budget, saying the President has declared war on agitators who support the use of subsidy to steal from the treasury.
Sani, a social critic who has always supported removal of subsidy, insisted fuel stations shutting down within 24 hours of the announcement is a blackmail.
“Shutting down petrol stations on the announcement of the removal of petroleum subsidy is the usual blackmail by the subsidy cartel. It’s time to neutralise the subsidy parasites,” he tweeted last week.
He reiterated Abuja has spent billions of naira on fuel subsidy which experts say is not sustainable.