The Sun said that Mr. Nwachukwu Tobinson Alakwe, the former coordinator of the National Support for Jonathan/Sambo Presidency’s West Africa division, claimed that the sudden and unilateral elimination of fuel subsidies signalled the start of Nigeria’s economic disaster.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Former President Buhari removed fuel subsidies from the 2023 budget just before leaving office, suggesting it was orchestrated by Northern leaders to undermine President Tinubu’s administration. He hinted they were aware of delays at the Dangote Refinery, worsening the country’s economic challenges.
He claimed that this failure has resulted in numerous issues and criticised the absence of backup plans and steps to lessen the negative consequences of the subsidy elimination. He voiced scepticism about the government’s capacity to implement prompt and evident remedies, namely concerning the food crisis, in the absence of the Dangote Refinery starting up soon.
He declared, “The inception of Nigeria’s economic catastrophe is the abrupt and unconsultative elimination of fuel subsidies. As I previously mentioned, Tinubu fell into a trap set by Northern leaders to topple this government. For this reason, the former president Buhari eliminated fuel subsidies from the 2023 budget, which went into effect in June, while he was leaving office on May 29.
They were aware that the country’s economic woes stemmed from the Dangote Refinery’s planned August 2023 closure. Previous administrations have romanticised the idea of doing away with fuel subsidies, but they never did.
These issues started when President Tinubu eliminated the fuel subsidy at his inauguration without putting any plans in place or measures in place to mitigate its effects.
And as things stand, the administration finds it extremely difficult to implement significant changes that will result in obvious answers, particularly when it comes to the food problem, unless the Dangote Refinery starts up soon.
