‘APC had polls to win’ — Garba Shehu explains why Buhari didn’t remove petrol subsidy

Garba Shehu, ex-spokesperson of former President Muhammadu Buhari, says although the past administration did not remove petrol subsidy, it did eliminate other subsidies.

In a statement on Monday, Shehu explained that the petrol subsidy was not removed during the last administration to prevent any form of insurrection that could have cost the All Progressives Congress (APC) the 2023 elections.

The former presidential spokesperson said Buhari’s administration removed subsidies on electricity, fertilizer, and diesel.

“The massive electricity subsidy. The fraudulent fertilizer subsidy. Hajj/Christian pilgrim subsidies. Remember them? The diesel subsidy. The aviation fuel subsidy. LPFO. Kerosene,” Shehu said.

“Cooking gas and the other subsidy policies we found in place, and put them firmly on the ground. Remember them?

“For those with short memories, many of those subsidies were all in place when president Buhari was elected to office in 2015: all those in place were gone by May 2023 — including the annual fertilizer subsidy that weighed 60-100 billion naira (that’s trillion naira (sic) in about 10 years — yes you read that right) heavy on the federal budget each year.

“So no, Buhari didn’t remove the petrol subsidy — but in vitally important stages he removed every other budget-busting, egregious, economic-growth-crushing subsidy along the way.

“So far, I have refrained from answering these repeated questions on the removal of subsidies on premium motor spirit, (PMS) and that arising from the dual rates of the naira in the Central Bank and the parallel market: Why did Buhari “fail” to do these?” 

Shehu said instead of the former president answering these questions, it is the APC that is best suited to speak, and “failing to do this, we are forced to say what will follow here”. 

“Secondly, we are mindful of the fact that with a Tinubu/Shettima presidency now in place and for which there is a “new sheriff in town,” he said.

“We do not want to distract them from the onerous tasks facing them and the nation. Neither is it our wish to take the spotlight away from them in any way.”

The ex-presidential spokesperson said the decision to remove subsidies was not for Buhari “to take all by himself”.

“That’s why it is important to remind ourselves — and all those who have conveniently forgotten — that the Buhari administration had been on this pathway from the very beginning in 2015,” he added.

‘PETROL SUBSIDY REMOVAL WAS CUED AND PUT ON HOLD’

The former spokesperson said the decision to remove the petrol subsidy was kept for a better time.

“Removing subsidies for the naira and PMS was cued and put on hold. Look for example in the Petroleum Industry Act. The important decision was kept for a better time,” Shehu said.

“It could not have come at a time when tensions were high in the country and no responsible leader would have added fuel to the fire.

“In the view of many –including those in the security circles — only a new administration with goodwill that fills a warehouse can attempt this, and here now comes the wit and grit of the Tinubu government.

“Finally, we must be politically honest with ourselves. The Buhari administration in its last days could not have gone the whole way because the APC had an election to win. And that would have been the case with any political party that was seeking election for another term with a new principal at its head.

“Poll after polls showed that the party would have been thrown out of office if the decision as envisaged by the new Petroleum Industry Act was made.”