By Modupe Gbadeyanka

The immediate past president of Nigeria, Mr Muhammadu Buhari, has explained why he did not remove the payment of subsidy on the premium motor spirit (PMS), commonly known as petrol when he was in power.

The government of Mr Buhari paid several trillions of Naira in fuel subsidy despite describing it as a fraud before he took over from former President Goodluck Jonathan in 2015.

After signing the Petroleum Industry Bill into law, Mr Buhari delayed its implementation, especially because of the part which made it illegal to pay petrol subsidy. Instead, he passed this on to his successor.

On May 29, 2023, when he handed over power to Mr Bola Tinubu, the new leader declared that subsidy for fuel was gone because his predecessor did not make provision for its payment in the 2023 budget.

On Monday, June 26, 2023, Mr Buhari, through his spokesman, Mr Garba Shehu, explained that the decision to delay the removal of the petrol subsidy was purely political.

In a note titled Buhari Didn’t Fail To Remove Subsidy, he explained that Mr Tinubu and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) would have lost the presidential election if it had been removed before the exercise.

“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,” he said.

Read the full statement below:

Why did it take the new Tinubu/ Shettima presidency weeks to remove the petrol subsidy when Buhari didn’t do so for years fails to ask the right question.

The massive electricity subsidy. The fraudulent fertilizer subsidy. Hajj/Christian Pilgrim subsidies.  Remember them?

The diesel subsidy. The aviation fuel subsidy. LPFO. Kerosene. 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 subsides 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 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 in Nigeria 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?

First of all, my thinking is that instead of the former President answering this question, it is the Party, the All Progressives Congress, 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.”

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.

In terms of the timings of the decisions to remove fuel subsidy and unify the currency, the Tinubu/Shettima administration has done overwhelmingly well. Even more importantly, they have been most dexterous in managing the aftermath of the decisions by successfully avoiding any crisis.

To this extent, our wish and prayers are that fellow countrymen will continue to support the new leadership in these very laudable decisions and, in particular, for the Labour leadership and civil society to work with them to ensure that the palliative efforts as promised are successfully implemented.

The decision to remove subsidies, as in our case – and we believe in all situations – was not for the President to take all by himself.

That’s why it’s important to remind ourselves – and all those who have conveniently forgotten – that Buhari administration had been on this pathway from the very beginning in 2015.

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.

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 a goodwill that fills a warehouse can attempt this, and here now comes in 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.

With the election now behind us, a capable leader as we now have in place is best positioned to move forward. We have nothing but confidence that the new administration will carry the nation and all its constituents into a stable future in the aftermath of these major economic and financial decisions.

As they say, there are times when you have to lose in order to win.

Garba Shehu