Tinubu Backtracks On Subsidy Removal

— Says Policy Not Taking Immediate Effect

Twenty hours after announcing the total and final removal of subsidy on petroleum products, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has clarified that the decision was not only that of his predecessor but would not take effect immediately.

In a post on his official twitter handle – @NgrPresGCFR, Tinubu said he was merely communicating the status quo, considering that the previous administration’s budget for fuel subsidy was planned and approved to last for only the first half of the year.

The post read thus:
“The public is advised to note that President Bola Tinubu’s declaration that “subsidy is gone” is neither a new development nor an action of his new administration. He was merely communicating the status quo, considering that the previous administration’s budget for fuel subsidy was planned and approved to last for only the first half of the year.

“Effectively, this means that by the end of June, the Federal Government will be without funds to continue the subsidy regime, translating to its termination. The panic-buying that has ensued as a result of the communication is needless; it will not take immediate effect.

“Furthermore, President Tinubu was clear about his plans to re-channel the funds previously devoted to the payment of subsidies into better investments that will cushion the effects of the removal on the general public, especially the poor of the poor. This includes but is not limited to investments in public infrastructure, education, healthcare and jobs that will materially improve the lives of millions of Nigerians and increase their earning potential.”

Meanwhile, the fuel queues grew longer in most parts of Abuja yesterday as motorists rushed to petrol station to refill their tanks and jerry cans in anticipation of a major price hike. A number of fuel stations shut their gates to the public while young men who hawk fuel in jerry cans at outrageous rates were out on the streets and major highways making brisk business out of motorists who cannot be on the long winding queues.

Tinubu had while delivering his inaugural address Monday announced that there would no more fuel subsidy as the scheme which had gulped trillions of Naira in recent years, could not be justified any longer

“We commend the decision of the outgoing administration in phasing out the petrol subsidy regime which has increasingly favoured the rich more than the poor. Subsidy can no longer justify its ever-increasing costs in the wake of drying resources. We shall instead re-channel the funds into better investment in public infrastructure, education, health care and jobs that will materially improve the lives of millions,” he said.