Bayo Onanuga, the special adviser to President Tinubu on Information and Strategy, recently addressed the removal of fuel subsidies during an interview on Arise News From 25:24. He spoke in depth about how the removal, which has caused significant economic challenges in Nigeria, was not done without prior planning, contrary to what many people believe.
Onanuga explained that all the major presidential candidates in the last election, including Atiku Abubakar, Peter Obi, and Bola Tinubu, had already committed to removing the subsidy during their campaigns.
Onanuga also pointed out that the process of removing the fuel subsidy didn’t begin with Tinubu but was actually initiated by former President Muhammadu Buhari. He clarified that Buhari had already planned for the subsidy to end in June 2023, so when Tinubu made his declaration at Eagle Square that the subsidy was “gone,” it simply reflected what had already been set in motion by the previous administration. According to Onanuga, the budget that Tinubu inherited from Buhari did not account for any continuation of the fuel subsidy.
He explained further that:
“The removal of fuel subsidy was not done flippantly. During the campaign, the major candidates, Peter Obi, Atiku Abubakar, all of them, said the subsidy would go. In fact, Tinubu’s predecessor, Buhari, had already scheduled that in June 2023, the subsidy would go. So when Tinubu said at Eagle Square that subsidy is gone, it means that in the budget he inherited, there was no such thing as fuel subsidy.”
Onanuga acknowledged that removing the subsidy has created some disruption, but he emphasized that the government is working on alternatives to cushion the impact. He highlighted the introduction of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) as an alternative to driving vehicles that run on fossil fuels.
He also gave an example from his personal life, mentioning how in Abuja, he relies on solar energy for power, reducing his dependence on the national electricity grid (NEPA). According to Onanuga, the government is trying to encourage Nigerians to adopt similar alternatives and is aiming to create a shift in the way the country approaches energy consumption.
“When you remove subsidy, it is going to create some disruption. But you can see that the president is trying to create an alternative. He is saying that, look, you don’t need to drive on fossil fuel, you can use CNG. Where I stay in Abuja, solar light is my primary light, I hardly turn to NEPA. So the government is trying to teach us that we need to find an alternative. The government is creating some kind of pattern change in Nigerians.”