Garba Shehu, a former spokeswoman for ex-President Muhammadu Buhari, stated that the former Nigerian leader postponed the removal of petrol subsidies and the unification of the country’s foreign exchange rates “for a better time.”
Shehu stated this in a statement on Monday, exactly four weeks after President Bola Tinubu took over from Buhari on May 29, 2023, and declared the termination of petrol subsidies, with a litre of the crucial commodity rising from N184 to over N500, causing economic agony.
“Removing subsidies for the Naira and PMS (Premium Motor Spirit) was cued and put on hold. Look for example in the Petroleum Industry Act. The important decision was kept for a better time,” Shehu said.
“It could not have come at a time when tensions were high in the country and no responsible leader would have added fuel to the fire.”
Given Nigeria’s dangerous security condition between May 2015 and May 2023, only a new administration with “goodwill that fills a warehouse” could undertake such a thing, according to the former presidential spokesman.
Shehu further stated that, in order to be “politically honest,” the Buhari administration could not have implemented the seismic reforms in its final days “because the APC (All Progressives Congress) had an election to win.”
He claimed that if the decision to remove subsidies on Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), also known as fuel, had been made, the ruling party would have been deposed.
“With the election now behind us, a capable leader as we now have in place is best positioned to move forward. We have nothing but confidence that the new administration will carry the nation and all its constituents into a stable future in the aftermath of these major economic and financial decisions,” Shehu added.
He praised the Tinubu administration’s timing of decisions to eliminate petrol subsidies and unify foreign exchange rates, saying the President and his deputy, Vice President Kashim Shettima, have done “overwhelmingly well” and have been “most dexterous in managing the aftermath of the decisions by successfully avoiding any crisis.”
The former presidential spokesman went on to say that while his previous boss did not eliminate petrol subsidies, he did eliminate power subsidies and fertilizer subsidies. Subsidies for Hajj/Christian Pilgrims, diesel, aviation fuel, and kerosene, among other things.
“For those with short memories, many of those subsides were all in place when President Buhari was elected to office in 2015: all those in place were gone by May 2023 – including the annual fertilizer subsidy that weighed 60-100 billion Naira (that’s trillion naira in about 10 years – yes you read that right) heavy on the federal budget each year.
“So no, Buhari didn’t remove the petrol subsidy – but in vitally important stages, he removed every other budget-busting, egregious, economic-growth-crushing subsidy along the way,” Shehu stated.
