Why I Let Tinubu Implement Subsidy Removal Policy – Buhari

Former President Muhammadu Buhari, has revealed why his administration did not implement the controversial fuel subsidy removal policy but left it for the incoming government of Senator Bola Tinubu.

Buhari who blew the lid off the secret today, said he was trying to guarantee victory for his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), as the policy if implemented then would have cost it the election.

Buhari gave the revelation today, through his former spokesman Garba Shehu, saying that he learnt the wisdom from previous elections.

READ ALSO: The NLC Erred In Calling Out Nigerian Workers To Strike- TUC

Buhari made the revelation, in response to several querries by some why it did not take the Tinubu administration long before it removed the fuel subsidy.

Directly responding to the question on why he did not implement the fuel subsidy removal policy, he said: “Buhari didn’t fail to remove subsidy”, Shehu wrote: “Why did it take the new Tinubu/ Shettima presidency weeks to remove the petrol subsidy when Buhari didn’t do so for years, fails to ask the right question.

“The massive electricity subsidy. The fraudulent fertilizer subsidy. Hajj/Christian pilgrim subsidies. Remember them?

“The diesel subsidy. The aviation fuel subsidy. LPFO. Kerosene. Cooking gas and the other subsidy policies we found in place, and put them firmly on the ground. Remember them?

READ ALSO: Nigerians Bemoan As Fuel Scarcity Bites Harder

“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.

“So far I have refrained from answering these repeated questions on the removal in Nigeria of subsidies on Premium Motor Spirit, PMS, and that arising from the dual rates of the Naira in the Central Bank and the parallel market: Why did Buhari ‘fail’ to do these?

“First of all, my thinking is that instead of the former President answering this question, it is the party, the All Progressives Congress, APC, that is best suited to speak and failing to do this, we are forced to say what will follow here.

READ ALSO: Dollar To Naira: Traders Point To N900/$1 As Black Market Rate Now Double Official Rate

“Secondly, we are mindful of the fact that with a Tinubu/Shettima presidency now in place and for which there is a ‘New Sheriff in Town’, we do not want to distract them from the onerous tasks facing them and the nation.

“Neither is it our wish to take the spotlight away from them in any way.

“In terms of the timings of the decisions to remove fuel subsidy and unify the currency, the Tinubu/Shettima administration has done overwhelmingly well”, he stated.