Opeyemi Bamidele: Beneficiaries of petrol subsidy made governance difficult for Tinubu

Opeyemi Bamidele, the senate majority leader, says key beneficiaries of the petrol subsidy made governance difficult for President Bola Tinubu in the first 18 months of his administration.

In a statement issued on Monday, the senator representing Ekiti central said the economic predators fought and undermined Tinubu’s administration because the president removed the petrol subsidy in the overriding public interest.

“I am convinced that the president did the right thing by removing the fuel subsidy, for which the 9th National Assembly made provision till May 2023, the statement reads.

“But the people that made governance difficult for President Tinubu were those benefiting from fuel subsidies.

“It was not common men and women of this country who were benefiting from the fuel subsidy. It was not. It was members of the cabal who had access to the fuel subsidy. They are the ones taking away this privilege all in the name and on behalf of the masses. And the masses did not benefit from it.

“I was part of the 9th National Assembly. At that time, we had agreed with the executive arm that the fuel subsidy should be removed because it was no longer in the overriding interest of the country.

“The Tinubu administration acted based on the policy direction the National Assembly approved before his inauguration on May 29, 2023.

“In the 2023 budget, the National Assembly only made provision for fuel subsidy till May 2023. Whether President Tinubu removed it at his inauguration or not, there was no longer funding for subsidy because we did not make provision for it beyond May 2023.

“He did not say he was going to remove the fuel subsidy. He simply said fuel subsidy was gone simply because the National Assembly only made provision for it till May 2023. Even if he did not say it, the fuel subsidy would have gone in two days after his inauguration.”

Bamidele said if the national assembly made provision for petrol subsidy, it would deny all the sub-national governments from receiving adequate statutory transfers from the federation accounts to run their administration.

He said if the petrol subsidy was retained, “it would have automatically plunged the country into a fiscal crisis and possibly another economic meltdown”.

According to him, proceeds realised from the petrol subsidy “are now being allocated directly to the sub-national governments to drive development and boost domestic economy”.

“These are the points we need to emphasise in our public engagement,” the senate leader added.

“Running an economy indeed calls for strategic response. The strategic steps being taken are not something that will yield a positive outcome within 24 hours. If the subsidy had not been removed, our economy would have been in shambles or would have been flat on the floor.

“This administration has not been in office for up to two years. So much has been achieved across all strategic sectors, and diverse reforms are ongoing to further deepen the gains of the administration. If fuel subsidy is retained, only God knows what will have happened to this federation.”

Bamidele also assured Nigerians that the 2025 appropriation act would largely solve diverse challenges that had been confronting the country not only at the national level but also at the sub-national level.

“Compared to the previous fiscal years, the federal government is devoting less to recurrent expenditure while more is being devoted to capital expenditure,” he said.

“That is a major shift from what had been in practice since the return to democracy. It means we are spending less on consumables.”