Nigeria’s immediate past President Muhammadu Buhari says his administration deliberately delayed the implementation of the policy seeking to remove fuel subsidies to ensure that All Progressives Congress (APC), led by Bola Ahmed Tinubu, won the last general polls.
According to him, if he had removed the fuel subsidy ahead of the general elections, his party and Bola Ahmed Tinubu would have been defeated during the polls.
“We must be politically honest with ourselves. The Buhari administration, in its last days, could not have gone the whole way because the APC had an election to win. And that would have been the case with any political party that was seeking election for another term with a new principal at its head.
“Poll after polls showed that the party would have been thrown out of office if the decision as envisaged by the new Petroleum Industry Act was made,’’ said Garba Shehu, Buhari’s erstwhile spokesman in a statement in response to concerns by some Nigerians that it has taken Tinubu, who is in office for few days to implement removal of fuel subsidies.
“The decision to remove subsidies, as in our case—and we believe in all situations—was not for the President to take all by himself.
“That’s why it’s important to remind ourselves and all those who have conveniently forgotten that the Buhari administration had been on this pathway from the very beginning in 2015.
“Removing subsidies for the Naira and PMS was cued and put on hold. Look at, for example, the Petroleum Industry Act…the important decision was kept for a better time.
“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.
“In the view of many Including those in the security circles, only a new administration with goodwill that fills a warehouse can attempt this, and here now comes in the wit and grit of the Tinubu government,’’ Garba Shehu stated.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
