Tinubu insists petrol subsidy must go
Tamarauemi Ebimini
All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Candidate Asiwaju Bola Tinubu has restated his readiness to end fuel subsidy if elected President next month.
Tinubu, in a brief interview at the weekend with Freedom Radio in Saudi Arabia for Lesser Hajj, described subsidy regime as anti-poor.
He told the Kaduna-based radio station that subsidy payments by successive governments were nothing but a waste of resources that ought to have been used to meet the needs of the people.
Tinubu, a former Lagos State governor, argued that subsidy payments were most beneficial to the rich and, therefore, ought to be stopped.
“I will ensure we end the wastage and re-channel the money to the people who truly need it,” he promised
The APC standard bearer had earlier disclosed his plan to scrap subsidy being paid on Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) while unveiling his 82-page manifesto tagged “Renewed Hope 2023 – Action Plan for a better Nigeria.”
He added: “The Petroleum Act is there for us to take a second look at to meet our obligations and no matter how much or long the protest, we will remove petrol subsidy. We will take tough decisions, but it will be done, and that is the truth. The era when fuel subsidy was fashionable is gone. So, it must be removed.
The Federal Government is reported to have spent N1.9 trillion on subsidy between January and July 2022.
