Presidential candidate, All Progressives Congress, APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu has insisted fuel subsidy regime must end if elected president next month.
Tinubu made this assertion in a brief interview with Freedom Radio during his visit to Saudi Arabia for UmrahThe APC presidential candidate 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,
He said, “I will ensure we end the wastage and re-channel the money to the people who truly need it.”
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 said during the ceremony that the oil sector has been caged by “subsidy” and therefore, must be “unbundled.”
Speaking at an interactive session with captains of industry tagged: “Business Forward” in Lagos, Tinubu rejected oil subsidy payments, saying, “The era when petrol subsidy was fashionable is gone.“Other economies are already building charged stations, but we are yet to generate electricity to even roast plantain. Electricity is the most important discovery for humanity in the last 1,000 years and so, we must have electricity whichever way and by all means possible. I can also promise you will not pay for estimated billing. We will talk and walk our talk.
“Please let us do it, we can do it, we are educated enough, we are courageous enough, we are great people. A promise made will be a promise kept,” he said.
The Federal Government is reported to have spent N1.9 trillion on subsidy between January and July 2022.
