₦airaland Forum

In his inaugural address to the nation, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu declared that the fuel subsidy scheme had ceased to exist. “Fuel subsidy is gone,” he said, and then ‘fuel subsidy’ peaked at number two on Nigeria’s Twitter trend table.

For over a decade, previous administrations considered eliminating fuel subsidies but failed in implementation, owing largely to popular opposition. Now backed by the law, it is still an emotive topic, and many are curious about the president’s stance.

Although it is predicted that the elimination of subsidies will lead to momentary economic hardship, it is being received rather warmly, in contrast to 11 years ago, when just the mention of it was met with fierce opposition.

“A president has just announced he’s removing subsidy and nobody wants to occupy Nigeria?” One Twitter user asked in reference to the new disposition.

WHY SHOULD THE REMOVAL OF FUEL SUBSIDY MAKE ANYONE WANT TO OCCUPY NIGERIA?
On January 1, 2012, former President Goodluck Jonathan abruptly ended fuel subsidies, sparking the Occupy Nigeria protest.

Occupy Nigeria was an anti-subsidy removal campaign, which was later propagated to unseat Jonathan and his People’s Democratic Party (PDP). It was also one of the corridors through which the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) was installed.

Some of the leading protesters, all APC supporters, now hail the decision to eliminate subsidies as significant and advantageous for the Nigerian people. Ten years ago, this rationale was widely contested.

-1). "N65 OR NOTHING" BASHIR AHMAD
In protest of Jonathan’s 2012 fuel subsidy removal policy, Bashir Ahmad, the digital media aide to Muhammadu Buhari, the immediate past president, wrote, “N65 or nothing.”

Ahmad was a front-runner of the #OccupyNigeria protest in Kano State and on social media. He agitated not just against the removal of fuel subsidies but also openly expressed his desire to remove Jonathan and his government.

However, in a 2016 tweet, Ahmad quoted President Tinubu as saying, “I can swear that President Muhammadu Buhari will not misappropriate the funds saved from the removal of subsidy.”

With petrol prices at N185 per litre, more than double his N65 baseline, and expected to more than triple after fuel subsidies are gone, Ahmad appears to have lost interest in occupying Nigeria..He wrote a congratulatory message to Tinubu after his swearing in as president, when he explicitly said that there would be no further subsidies.

-2). "CUT COST BEFORE REMOVING SUBSIDY" - JAPHET OMOJUWA
In 2011, the Jonathan-led administration budgeted N245 billion for fuel subsidies, but by the end of the year, the administration said it had spent N2.6 trillion subsidising fuel.

When the administration ended fuel subsidies on January 1, 2012, Japhet Omojuwa, a popular social media critic, led a protest against Jonathan, using the hashtag ‘Occupy Nigeria’, his gripe being that the former president failed to curb the corruption in his cabinet and now sought to make common Nigerians pay for their actions.

In multiple tweets from 2012, when Jonathan removed subsidies, to the 2015 presidential election campaigns, Omojuwa called for the sack of Jonathan and his cabinet members.

“Nigerians will fight to keep the subsidies until public officers make certain commitments, the most telling of which is their salaries and allowances. Until then, the shutdown of Nigeria, or ‘Naijacalypse'”, he wrote in his 2012 CNN opinion piece.

Post-Jonathan, the tides seemed to have turned. Despite increased budgets for NASS members from 2012’s N71 billion and multiple corruption scandals linked to the APC-led government, Omojuwa has extended his support for Tinubu’s “Fuel subsidy is gone”, stating that the president’s statement was to show that he didn’t intend to bring the dead back.]

-3). "SAY NO TO CRIPPLING IMF POLICIES" - OGBENI DIPO AWOJIDE
On Monday, Ogbeni Dipo Awojide, a UK-based Nigerian, quoted President Tinubu as saying, “There is no budgetary allocation for fuel subsidy. Fuel subsidy is gone.”

Eleven years ago however, Awojide heralded the Occupy Nigeria protest in London against the fuel subsidy removal policy. Ogbenidipo's Occupy Nigeria protest against fuel subsidy removal

-4). "FROM OCCUPY NIGERIA TO PATRIOTIC ACT" - LAURETTA ONOCHIE
In the aftermath of the Occupy Nigeria protests, Lauretta Onochie, the chair of the Niger Delta Development Commission and aide to Buhari, wrote: “The fear of #OccupyNigeria is the beginning of wisdom for the Jonathan administration. June 2012 has come and gone, and no fuel hike.”

By 2016 however, Onochie, whose party was now at the helm of affairs, described subsidy removal as a patriotic act made in the long-term interest of Nigerians.

In justification of her new choice, Onochie explained, “Looting was the reason I did not trust the administration of Jonathan to remove the fuel subsidy in 2012. It was made up of more than 40% thieves.”


-5). "TACKLE REFINERIES FIRST" - ABIKE DABIRI EREWA.
During the Occupy Nigeria protests, Abike Dabiri, the pioneer chair of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), instituted during Buhari’s administration, tweeted, “#Fuelsubsidy Tackle the issue of refineries first before even talking about removing the subsidy.”

Subsidy payments have risen steadily from N2.09 trillion in 2011 to N4 trillion in 2022, yet prices rose from N65 to N185. In 2021 alone, N100 billion was spent on rehabilitating refineries that never functioned.

Daily Trust reported that Nigeria spent N12.05 trillion on refineries and subsidies in the past seven years, yet the NIDCOM chair has remained silent about the signing into law of the subsidy removal bill and Tinubu’s proclamation. She has instead congratulated the new president.

"Removal of oil subsidy: President Jonathan breaks social contract with the people. [Tinubu noted that with the subsidy removal, the people would become “enslaved to greater misery.”

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Friday said the removal of fuel subsidy by his administration saved the country from imminent bankruptcy and laid the foundation for the gradual recovery of the nation’s economy.

muyico:
We APC were expert campaigners

anonimi:
Petrol should never cost more than N70 per litre, says APC

January 19, 2015

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has described as mere tokenism the reduction of petrol price from N97 to N87 per litre, saying the petroleum product ordinarily should sell for N70.

On Sunday, the federal government announced the reduction of petrol price, citing the fall of global crude oil price.

But the APC through Lai Mohammed, its spokesman, on Monday accused the government of making a show out of deceit, saying “a 10.3 per cent slash in the price of petrol was a mere tokenism at a time the price of crude oil has crashed by about 60 per cent”.

It argued that the pump price of a litre of petrol should not be more than 70 Naira, alleging that at N87 per litre, the government was forcing Nigerians to subsidise the massive corruption in the oil sector by N17 for every litre of fuel.

https://www.thecable.ng/petrol-never-cost-n70-per-litre-says-apc/

AMINDA:
This is why Obi should have kept mum on the subsidy saga instead of falling for the APC gaslighting and trying to prove that he is consistent. You don't urinate on your political opponents when they are on fire.

Sirseedorf:
Some people are still crying more than goodluck Jonathan, claiming they are concerned about the country, in all they are just hiding under obident claiming to be fighting for the country.

Country most of them hate hearing good news about, hypocritical people.

Jakpon:
Liar !!!. APC did not occupy Nigeria in 2012. APC was created in 2014

muyico:
We APC were expert campaigners

givedemwotowoto:
I have to say I am disappointed with Atiku on reverting back to petrol subsidy.

We just can't go back there, we have to focus our conversation on what the savings should be used for.

I'm with PO 100% on this. Stick to subsidy removal but come up with a plan of what to do with the money. Tell us your plan. Lay it out.

When GEJ removed petrol subsidy back in 2012, they had a plan to build 3 refineries with the savings, each was estimated around $3 billion at the time. This time I say commit that money to Job creation (funding businesses to create jobs so people can have steady income) to raise the standard of living so people can afford the petrol price.

Flangelo12:
This subsidy matter is not the hot button issue you would like to make it.

Why not concentrate on Tinubu's certificate or the alleged drug related distractions that you've been broadcasting for years?

Kukutente23:
Why are you then pleading for diversion

Sirseedorf:
Some people are still crying more than goodluck Jonathan, claiming they are concerned about the country, in all they are just hiding under obident claiming to be fighting for the country.

Country most of them hate hearing good news about, hypocritical people.

AMINDA:
What plan can Obi come up with that will significantly differ from what Tinubu is currently doing? The constitution limits you in so many ways and Obi will still not dictate to the governors on how to spend their money or constitutionally be able to deny them their share. Subsidy is the only thing all Nigerians collectively benefit from government.