Tinubu not responsible for subsidy removal, he only announced it  — Yakubu Dogara

The removal of the petroleum product subsidy is not President Bola Tinubu‘s fault, according to former Speaker of the House of Representatives Yakubu Dogara.

Dogara said that the president did not really implement the whole thing; rather, he just declared its removal when he declared, “Subsidy is gone,” on May 29, 2023, during his inaugural ceremony.

The former speaker clarified that Tinubu was not the first to implement the idea since the National Assembly’s authorized budget did not include a provision for subsidy payment.

On Friday, September 27, 2024, the former speaker refuted the assertion that Tinubu had stopped paying subsidies when speaking on Channels TV.

He said, “In this case, there was no provision for it, and anybody who told you he (Tinubu) suspended it was just joking because how did he suspend payment that was not budgeted for in the first instance?

“There was no provision for subsidy in that budget and I am not aware of any amendment that took place to accommodate the payment of subsidy. The truth is that he (Tinubu) was not the one who removed the subsidy. But he did make that pronouncement.”

Dogara’s advice to Nigerians

The Bauchi politician also frowned at how Nigerians comment about the country’s challenges, saying everyone including elites only talk about the problems without proffering solutions.

“The problem with this country is that people always want to talk about her problems and they want to leave Nigeria because of it as if these problems are not there in other climes. But nobody is talking about solutions, even among the elites. When you sit with them, everyone is talking about the problems and not solutions,” he said.

He urged Nigerians to accept the reality of fuel subsidy removal, adding there was no way Tinubu could have helped the situation because the Muhammadu Buhari administration did not make provision for it in the 2023 budget.

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