The Presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in the 2023 elections, Adewole Adebayo has berated President Bola Tinubu over the announcement of fuel subsidy removal.
Recall that Tinubu, during his inaugural speech at the Eagle Square in Abuja on Monday, declared that his administration would not continue to pay subsidy on petroleum products.
The President said given the high opportunity cost the Federal Government was suffering to fund subsidy, it was no longer justifiable to continue.
Tinubu asserted that since there was no provision for subsidy in the budget from June 2023, it stands removed.
In a statement released via his Twitter handle on Tuesday, Adebayo described the announcement of the fuel subsidy removal by the new President as untidy and ill-timed.
Adebayo said Tinubu should be reminded that the occasion of his inaugural speech was not the best avenue to have announced the suspension of such a macroeconomic policy.
He insisted that Nigerians would need a shock absorber in the form of alternative measures to cushion the effect of fuel subsidy removal before any action could be taken in that direction.
He said, “I don’t want to seem impatient or trigger-happy in criticism of brand-new president Tinubu. But it is not a neat way to announce a cost-driven macroeconomic policy of fuel subsidy removal by just dropping it in an inaugural speech. We need shock absorbers first. Renewed hope?”
