₦airaland Forum

Lanruze:
If PBAT would loose the Presidential Elections in 2027, it will be hinged around the unsequenced and abrupt removal of the PMS subsidy removal.

An economic analyst describes what the Presidency did as the removal of the tooth of a patient without analstelsia and expecting the patient not to complain of pain.

Which yeye boldness is that ? The price of staples have begun an upward trajectory once again whilst the major feedback from Farmers remain input cost & transport cost directly affected by the PMS subsidy removal.

Government in the last twenty four (24) months has lost over $20B through closure of SMEs and exit of multinationals and saved $10B from the PMS subsidy removal.

Infact, NNPC according to Gov. Hope Uzodinma was not remitting any to FAAC for nine (9) months making it difficult to track subsidy claims expense whilst the FIRS held forth.

PMS subsidy removal should have given birth to a PTF or SURE-P establishment where priority programmes would be targeted for the shocks Nigerians currently experience.

The Governors who are the major beneficiary are not as accountable and transparent with distributable revenues with over-invoiced contract and fraudulent palliative programmes.

But if the tooth was a cancerous one and the patient only..2 option
Either to remove the tooth and end the pain forever or be placed on pain relieving medicine and hope that one day the pain will go away.

grandstar:
Imagine this man embellishing nonsense.

So many companies shut down in the first two years of Buhari that unemployment jumped from 8 5% to over 30%

Before Tinubu took over, Emirates and some multinationals had pulled out of Nigeria due to the chronic scarcity of forex. What is the point of an rate of N500 when you have no dollars to supply?

There was only $3bn in the net foreign reserves while owing buyers of fx, $7bn.

You should know as usual how they behave. His anger is that Tinubu a Yoruba became president.

Jeezuzpick:
As the subsidy was removed, did we die?

What will this man now tell Tinubu?

In fact, if we want to be very detailed about his utterances, can we all remember that the provision for subsidy had been taken out of the budget before Tinubu became President, and Buhari did in fact remove the subsidy, only he did it as he was leaving?

These guys just talk for the moment and disregard the future, because they know they can tell another lie.

I was looking for a comment like this. Everything was done to discredit Tinubu. Buhari died long time ago. So it is not actually him.

UP till now, Nigeria is still paying subsidy.

Tinubu came to deceive us, claiming subsidy is gone just to increase the cost of everything.

2 years of pain is much more than the whole of the 8 years Buhari used.

Do not let them shift the blame to Buhari now that he's gone.

HOLD TINUBU BY THE BALLS, no deflection allowed

His foot soldiers are ready to transfer their failures to late Buhari's head.

CommonSense1967:
Tinubu has the courage that others lacked. That the hallmark of true leadership.
Not just leading the people with unrealistic expectations and lies that will not lead to the ultimate goals.

lol … you want to make me believe now that he protested at Ojota in 2012 against the same subsidy removal because he was testing Jonathan’s courage shey?… if Jonathan refused to listen then … you guys would have found a way to destroy him then … I just thank God that he was wise … make he comot he hand for Nigeria matter … the people don’t even deserve any pity

That means if Obi, Atiku had been President, Nigerians would have been dropping dead on daily basis?

Frezhkid10:
But if the tooth was a cancerous one and the patient only..2 option
Either to remove the tooth and end the pain forever or be placed on pain relieving medicine and hope that one day the pain will go away.

I hope you were not amongst those that protested against the subsidy removal in 2012?

dre11:
https://dailytrust.com/buhari-retained-petrol-subsidy-so-nigerians-wont-die-ex-minister/

Really?

Mr former Minister, what about the #30t Ways and Means? Is that not killing same Nigerians?

I don't know how spending 95% of our Revenue to service Debt just bcoz you want to continue to subsidy fuel and enrich few elites. At least now, everybody don know hin level.

You don't know what you're saying. Though I don't have to respond to a man who obtained Nomination Form but didn't show up on the day of the Primary.

nairalanda1:
Ye,s and in the process, he burdened us with a massive debt, in order to pay for the subsidy.

Same thing happened in Argentina for decades. Free government of stomach infrastructure by one government after the other. At the end, the debt was so large, that now they needed a MIllei to clean up house...and yes, it is a hard medicine.

This subsidy thing should have gone in 1992, by now we would have been free of that albatross...but Nigerians always want cheap stuff.

Most african countries do not have subsides. Are they starving? (Before you shout electricity...Ivory coast removed subsides on electricity in 1990. No more blackouts and grid collapse since then)

No, tinubu is still a bad leader, he removed subsidy because IMF and circumstance forced him to.

some of us don't have dementia and we are not kindergarten.......what did the then finance minister call it There is no subsidy but under recovery.

While Buhari government represent light Tinubu symbolise total darkness

Bizibi:
some of us don't have dementia and we are not kindergarten.......what did the then finance minister call it There is no subsidy but under recovery.

And you have never heard of the term...newspeak, dobulespeak.

Governments love to use euphemisms in their offical propaganda. Those of us who can see clearly can see through that. Subsidy = under-recovery. It was blatantly clear. Newspeak. Tomorrow, they would even claim they did not pay anything...lol.

P.S : Your dementia joke is taken with a lot of levity.

grandstar:
We are dying from the excessive borrowing he had to make for us to "enjoy" the fuel subsidy.

The government was even borrowing money through ways and means from the government. This is basically asking the central bank to print you money to lend to it.

When Tinubu assumed office, 97% of government revenue was going towards servicing debt. With the fuel subsidy removal and the floating of the Naira, it's down to 68%.

Buhari's economic illiteracy was legendary. He wanted to be popular.

So the present government is not borrowing, right?
Then how does their own borrowing benefits the poor masses like Buhari's own?
You people will just open mouth waaah to talk trash!

nairalanda1:
The same buhari and tinubu marched against subsidy removal in 2012....

Also, keeping the subsidy left us with a debt that was eating 90% of our government revenue by August 2022.

Yes, it was a good decision...not.

If it's a good decision,then why did they march to the street against it in 2012 as you said?
This is what we called "hypocrisy".

boxypane:
And what happened to the economy? Subsidy was a cancer on the economy.
An economy that was battered by the likes of those in power and those forming coalition.
It is at this technological age EFCC is finding out that these crooks are now hiding stolen funds by using Crypto
Listen to these politicians at your own peril. It's all baldadash. They have nothing to offer.

So is economy in anyway better now than his era?

nairalanda1:
And you have never heard of the term...newspeak, dobulespeak.

Governments love to use euphemisms in their offical propaganda. Those of us who can see clearly can see through that. Subsidy = under-recovery. It was blatantly clear. Newspeak. Tomorrow, they would even claim they did not pay anything...lol.

P.S : Your dementia joke is taken with a lot of levity.

Bros I nor go argue with you,the time has past and I personally know that government in and out. All I know is that the whole thing is bs. A man that wasn't reading documents before signing,abeg I nor dey for their bull crap.

Pacesetter123:
So is economy in anyway better now than his era?

Please read that statement. Your response irks with sentiments and I'm sure that was what you were trying to pin on another.

Pacesetter123:
If it's a good decision,then why did they march to the street against it in 2012 as you said?
This is what we called "hypocrisy".

It is hypocrisy. It is also something many politicans do...judge the currents and swim with them when neccesary.

But let's be honest, most of you on this site do not support subsidy removal then and now. You just use it as a stick to beat the other side with, be it APC or PDP. Tinubu and buhari knows this...which is why they joined the protests in 2012, and then woke up in 2021-3...lol.

As for me, I supported subsidy remaining in place, until 2011, when I finally decided to do some reading. The final straw was when GEJ reduced the price from 140 back to 97 per liter. Around that time, I was introduced to the concept of landing cost. It suddenly shocked me that government was spending billions on subsidy that could have been spent elsewhere. That was my wake up call.


But if you want someone to blame, blame IBB. IN 1992, he was warned. He had more power in his hands than any democratic leader we have had, yet, because he was eyeing transformation to civillian ruler, he refused to remove subsidy then. The disaster started slowly striking from 1994 when we missed the first TAM for our refineries. It was downhill from there.

Bizibi:
Bros I nor go argue with you,the time has past and I personally know that government in and out. All I know is that the whole thing is bs. A man that wasn't reading documents before signing,abeg I nor dey for their bull crap.

Okey dokey...better form your party, and mobilize Nigerians so that we can get the corrupt elite out.

eazzzy1:
He did it out of pity for Nigerians or he was too cowardly to implement a policy he campaigned with? Or perhaps he didn’t want to deal with the fall out of the removal. Hence, he eventually removed it but only after he left office. Yet people insulted and continue to insult him.

Buhari not getting rid of fuel & forex subsidy inflicted pain on Nigeria and Nigerians didn’t fare any better. If he was bold enough to do the hard thing, Nigeria will be benefiting from it today and his legacy would have been cemented forever.

For example he wasn’t exactly liked when he was head of state, but the legend of his discipline and strong stance against corruption was well documented, the exact reason he was supported to be President. Do the right thing, even when the process is difficult , people will celebrate the result.

One of the intelligent and best comments I have read in a while .

nairalanda1:
Okey dokey...better form your party, and mobilize Nigerians so that we can get the corrupt elite out.

I am in Apc and I will tell you buhari was no5 fit to be president. Tinubu Is far intelligent than him......

Point of correction, what GEJ (actually it was Nkonjo Iweala who really wanted it, even GEJ was not sure of it) did then was fuel price increment. That was why he shifted the price from 87 to 157 and finally 137 naira.

The real subsidy removal was done by BAT. When you remove subsidy, you do not fix a price for it but allow market forces decide. In the past 2 years, we have all seen how the price has been fluctuating depending on crude price and other factors.\

Second lie is that Tinubu protested, no it was Nigerians that protested. How do you on Junuary 1st without any previous warning just increase pump price? Tinubu on the other hand already said subside will not stay in his administration no matter what even if people protest, so once he won, anyone should have anticipated it.

Murketeer:
lol … you want to make me believe now that he protested at Ojota in 2012 against the same subsidy removal because he was testing Jonathan’s courage shey?… if Jonathan refused to listen then … you guys would have found a way to destroy him then … I just thank God that he was wise … make he comot he hand for Nigeria matter … the people don’t even deserve any pity

nairalanda1:
I don't support any political side, and I am not an APC member (and you insult me by implying I support tinubu, because it shows you don't understand my message here).

I supported subsidy till 2011, when I finally sat down and read about it, and then became anti-subsidy.

I'm sorry about that. I'll retract my statement that implied you're just a paid agent.

Jeezuzpick:
As the subsidy was removed, did we die?

What will this man now tell Tinubu?

In fact, if we want to be very detailed about his utterances, can we all remember that the provision for subsidy had been taken out of the budget before Tinubu became President, and Buhari did in fact remove the subsidy, only he did it as he was leaving?

These guys just talk for the moment and disregard the future, because they know they can tell another lie.

The joke is definitely on you if you feel that there is no more subsidy being paid till today 😏

Pacesetter123:
So the present government is not borrowing, right?
Then how does their own borrowing benefits the poor masses like Buhari's own?
You people will just open mouth waaah to talk trash!

First and foremost, Buhari turned to borrowing because he wasn't ready to make tough fiscal decisions.

In 2015 when he assumed office, the price of oil was declining rapidly. It had fallen from $100 around July to $50 per barrel. It even went as low as low as $35. Jonathan had not paid much attention to the state of the economy in his last hours due to the elections.

Since oil provided about 90% of government revenue, this would be a massive blow. That means government revenue would decline by about 60%.

What should Buhari have done to cut cost:

1. He should have removed the fuel subsidy
2. Slash the size of the civil service.
3. Privatized government owned companies
And much more.

What did he do instead, he pegged the Naira stating he does not believe in devaluation. With lesser dollar inflow, your currency would naturally depreciate. It isn't rocket science. He thought that economists determine exchange rates. It is actually market forces.

He refused to cut spending despite collapsing

Anyways, I'm transgressing.

Though I am not a big fan of Tinubu borrowing, but one should see why.

First, 68% of government revenue is still going towards debt servicing. Anything more than 20% is discouraged by economists. At 40%, it is getting chronic. So, 68% is still quite high. There is no way government can avoid borrowing with 68% of revenue still going towards debt servicing.

Next, the borrowing this time is anchored on debt sustainability. The government is working towards improving tax collection by 3% of GDP, which may raise an extra 15trillion or $10bn a year by 2027. Since the government is borrowing $24bn, this is sustainable. Assuming debt servicing is at 10% per annum, that is only $2.4bn a year. There is still an extra $7.6bn left.

How will the borrowing benefit the poor? It is to early for me to say. Tinubu said it is to build capacity.

To build capacity here, means to build capacity to grow, capacity to absorb years of economic growth.

Some economies find it difficult to grow because they do not have enough power supply, good roads, ports and so on. Even if they may be sufficient today, it may not be sufficient in 5 years time.

For instance, the government wants to purchase 7m NEPA metres. The next phase of PHCN would involve switching everyone to Band A. The government wants to invest into power supply infrastructure to ensure there is enough electricity to power the economy. He can't attempt that now as he would certainly lose the election.

He might also invest heavily in roads rehabilitation. He has always believed in infrastructural spending especially on roads. Successful road projects may also assist him win the coming 2027 elections.

9jatriot:
Yet in spite of all that, the amount of insults the man got was just too much.

The reality for President Buhari was that despite incurring massive debts to fund the fuel subsidy, he remained a constant target of public insults and accusations of economic failure.

This predicament suggests a strategic calculation by President Tinubu: since a leader is likely to face continuous criticism regardless of the subsidy's status, it is more pragmatic to endure the immediate backlash of its removal and, in turn, reap the significant fiscal benefits of reduced borrowing and currency stability.

This approach, while initially painful, aims to avoid the double bind of accumulating astronomical debt while still being perpetually insulted. It was a case of "damned if you do, damned if you don't" dilemma that Nigerian leaders face with the fuel subsidy. It's about weighing the immediate political cost against the long-term economic consequences.

Buhari was moved by passion, Tinubu is an accountant and knows how to deal with numbers more.

Tinubu is just a materialistic capitalist just opposite of Buhari. How much was a litre of petrol without subsidies as announced by Mele Kyari before Buhari left? Just around 350 but immediately subsidy removal was hastly announced, it went to as high as 600, 700 and 1000 per litre.
After using Oando to acquire Total, they are now telling you that your refineries cannot work again and need to be sold.
My question is "sold to who"? If it cannot work again, what is the person going to use it for?

2027, is close. Buhari is no more for consultancy about northern votes. APC on its own in the north.

Safyqueen:
Tinubu is just a materialistic capitalist just opposite of Buhari. How much was a litre of petrol without subsidies as announced by Mele Kyari before Buhari left? Just around 350 but immediately subsidy removal was hastly announced, it went to as high as 600, 700 and 1000 per litre.
After using Oando to acquire Total, they are now telling you that your refineries cannot work again and need to be sold.
My question is "sold to who"? If it cannot work again, what is the person going to use it for?

2027, is close. Buhari is no more for consultancy about northern votes. APC on its own in the north.

Subsidy was being paid until October 2024, when it finally went.

I am not here to take part in your buhari v tinubu fight, let's be clear.

Also, I see you are surprised by the price increase. The fact is, most Nigerians have never known a reality without subsides since 1973 when they were brought in. That's why we all act surprised when the price shot up as high as it did. We are now seeing the reality as it exists in the world today.

And yeah, everywhere, people complain about fuel prices being too high.

All the subsidy removals up till 2024 october were partial removal (yes, there was a total removal in May 2023, until the government got spooked and brought back subsidy in 2023 october, which was costing 1 trillion naira a month by feb 2024....). At the end, the money was too much, and tinubu was forced to remove subsidy.

The thing is, in 1992, when we still had 4 working refineries, we were warned that subsidy had to go then. We screamed about IMF domination and refused, and so forth. Two years later, our refineries began their slow decline because the cost of maintiaiing them from subsidy money was getting too too much. SO, government started cutting corners.

Here we are.

(Remember when your beloved buhari announced NNPC privatisation , he also announced that subsidy was paid for up till June 2023. Also, by August 2022, debt service, resulting largely from decades of subsides among other things, was eating 90% of our revenue. If Buhari had continued after 2023, or someone else than tinubu took over, the result was the same. Something had to give, or we would have ended up with issues like no money for salaries, etc. ).

LIke I said, the fact is, we have never had good government in nigeria since independence. Because all our leaders run resource dependent economies, and there is too much short term thinking. At some point, if we want a strong naira, we got to run an economy based on manufactured goods and services.

He was able to retain fuel subsidy because Jonathan left tens of billions behind to pay for it. If he Buhari had done the same for his successor, Nigeria would have become an El dorado right now.

SeeWahala:
The joke is definitely on you if you feel that there is no more subsidy being paid till today 😏

Of course I know they're still stealing in the name of subsidy. That's been going on since Buhari's time.

nairalanda1:
Ye,s and in the process, he burdened us with a massive debt, in order to pay for the subsidy.

Same thing happened in Argentina for decades. Free government of stomach infrastructure by one government after the other. At the end, the debt was so large, that now they needed a MIllei to clean up house...and yes, it is a hard medicine.

This subsidy thing should have gone in 1992, by now we would have been free of that albatross...but Nigerians always want cheap stuff.

Most african countries do not have subsides. Are they starving? (Before you shout electricity...Ivory coast removed subsides on electricity in 1990. No more blackouts and grid collapse since then)

No, tinubu is still a bad leader, he removed subsidy because IMF and circumstance forced him to.

Well said, you nailed it with this post.

President Buhari not removing subsidy was effectively killing people softly by the act. Yorùbá have a saying, and I paraphrase, about a "a poor man eating an expensive meal not realising he is eating his skull".

Subsidy should have been removed in stages by previous Presidents, not continuing to borrow money to pay it.

aswani:
Well said, you nailed it with this post.

President Buhari not removing subsidy was effectively killing people softly by the act. Yorùbá have a saying, and I paraphrase, about a "a poor man eating an expensive meal not realising he is eating his skull".

Subsidy should have been removed in stages by previous Presidents, not continuing to borrow money to pay it.

Well, subsides was being 'removed in stages'...that's how it has been done for decades, which is why fuel is no longer 15 kobo per liter (1981 prices).

The government back then did a partial removal when either

1. Cost of maintaining subsides was too much due to rising production
2. Low oil prices meaning low revenue, meaning less money for subsides.

If they had not done that, our debt would have been very 'ginormous' so to speak. (In other words, it would make our current debt look like pocket money for a child).

But the truth is, there is no removal of subsidy in stages. You either remove it, or you don't.

nairalanda1:
Well, subsides was being 'removed in stages'...that's how it has been done for decades, which is why fuel is no longer 15 kobo per liter (1981 prices).

The government back then did a partial removal when either

1. Cost of maintaining subsides was too much due to rising production
2. Low oil prices meaning low revenue, meaning less money for subsides.

If they had not done that, our debt would have been very 'ginormous' so to speak. (In other words, it would make our current debt look like pocket money for a child).

But the truth is, there is no removal of subsidy in stages. You either remove it, or you don't.

I disagree with you on this one about removal in stages sha.

They needed to make serious inroads to it in those stages whereby the last act of removal would probably not be noticed.

That petrol prices went up alongside inflation to me doesn't count.