Festus Keyamo, a former Minister of State for Labour and Employment, has debunked the claims by some media outlets that President Bola Tinubu has removed fuel subsidy in Nigeria.
He said such reports were false and mischievous.
He explained that Tinubu’s government only inherited a situation where there was no provision for fuel subsidy in the 2023 budget and the Petroleum Industry Act, which came into effect in June.
He added that Tinubu merely stated this fact in his inaugural speech at the Eagles Square, where he also announced that fuel subsidy was gone.
Since then, some petrol stations have increased their pump prices and long queues have reappeared at some filling stations across the country.
Keyamo argued that Tinubu would have been acting illegally if he had promised to reintroduce fuel subsidy during his speech.
He challenged those who support fuel subsidy to convince Nigerians why Tinubu should violate the law and spend $10 billion of scarce resources on subsidizing fuel in 2023 alone.
He also asked them to justify why $10 billion invested in other sectors of the economy would not create more jobs and improve the welfare of workers.
He wrote on Twitter: “A section of the Press is mischievously twisting the narrative to read that TINUBU’s GOVERNMENT HAS REMOVED SUBSIDY. That is NOT CORRECT.
“TINUBU’s govt has merely inherited a regime where there was no provision for subsidy in the 2023 Appropriation Act as of June 2023 and the Petroleum Industry Act which is now extant has no provision for subsidy. President Tinubu merely acknowledged this state of affairs in his inaugural speech at Eagle Square.
“So any advocate of subsidy should convince the Nigerian people why President Tinubu should start on a note of illegality by promising to reintroduce something which the law has taken away.
“They should also convince the Nigerian people why President Tinubu should embark on a present illegality that gulped $10 billion of our scarce or unavailable resources in 2022 alone.
“Those claiming to defend the right or welfare of workers should convince the Nigerian people that $10 billion injected into the economy yearly will not jumpstart the economy enough as to create massive jobs and even increase the same minimum wage they complain about.
“That is the conversation the Nigerian people are prepared to have now.”
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