By Deborah Nnamdi
Former Anambra State governor and Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate Peter Obi says the fuel subsidy removal was necessary only that it was done haphazardly.
Obi noted that he would have removed the petrol subsidy and floated the naira if elected president but not in the way it was done by President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
He maintained that while the removal of fuel subsidy was necessary, the policy should have been implemented in a “gradual and organized” fashion.
“I have consistently maintained that I would have removed the fuel subsidy,” Obi said in an interview with Arise Television aired on Monday. “If you go to my manifesto, it is there, and the steps I would have taken in an organized manner.”
“There is nothing wrong with the removal of fuel subsidy. What is wrong is the haphazard way in which it was announced and implemented.”
He acknowledged that the subsidy regime was riddled with “criminality and corruption” and needed to end but criticized the current administration’s approach, describing it as poorly executed.
Obi questioned the management of the funds saved from the subsidy removal. “Since we were told that we removed it because we don’t want to borrow and that the funds will allow for investments in critical infrastructure. Billions saved. Where is it? Where is it invested in critical areas of development? Everybody knows critical areas of development — education, health, and pulling people out of poverty. Have any of these three improved? No,” he said.
The 63-year-old added that a fair pricing template should have been negotiated with stakeholders to cushion the impact on citizens.
Obi also addressed the decision to float the naira, saying the policy isn’t inherently wrong but must be backed by economic productivity.
“There is nothing wrong with floating and devaluing your currency. You do this when you have productivity. In all of this, I would have done the same thing in an organized manner,” he said.
Since President Bola Tinubu’s announcement on May 29, 2023, ending the fuel subsidy, the price of petrol has surged from N190 to over N850 per liter. The administration also adopted a currency float policy, allowing market forces to determine the naira’s value.
