The Northern Elders Forum (NEF) has told President Bola Ahmed Tinubu not to take credit for the removal of the fuel subsidy in Nigeria.
Spokesperson for the forum, Hakeem Baba-Ahmed said he agreed with the removal of fuel subsidy by the Nigerian government but asked President Tinubu not to take credit for the action, stating that it was former President Muhammadu Buhari who removed the subsidy before leaving office.
But he expressed concerns about why the government had not provided palliatives to cushion the effect of the subsidy removal.
“Honestly, I don’t know how better he could have handled it. Incidentally, Tinubu didn’t remove the subsidy. Buhari did by providing for it until June when he knew the new administration would be in place. Tinubu came in to find out the subsidy had been removed. So, he shouldn’t take credit for removing the subsidy. Yes, he would have removed the subsidy if it was in place, but Buhari removed it,” Baba-Ahmed said.
Recall that Tinubu had during his inauguration on May 29, 2023 remaked that the “era of fuel subsidy is gone”.
