Posted by Isa Yuguda, a former governor of Bauchi State, has praised President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s decision to end the fuel subsidy, claiming that past administrations lacked the political will to do so.
He claimed that it was past time to end the subsidies.
Yuguda bemoaned that previous administrations’ discussions of eliminating gasoline subsidies amounted to little more than a “talk show” and a “motion without a movement.”
The former minister of state for transportation stated his position on Monday during an appearance as a guest on the Sunrise Daily program on Channels Television, which 460play was watching.
He said that between 2008 and 2009, when the economy was in a state of breakdown, he had the honor of chairing a subcommittee, and that it was under his leadership that the initiative’s fraud was fully exposed.
This is because he claimed that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC), along with marketers and other oil industry partners, had primarily operated the fuel subsidy scheme.
He bemoaned the fact that the subsidy scammers had profited greatly from Nigeria and had contributed to the country’s current financial crisis.
“I remember a friend of mine in the oil industry,” he reminisced, speaking at a gathering of an economic think tank. He pulled the then-president aside and begged him to end the subsidies because they were sick of making money.
However, Yuguda omitted to mention the president or the buddy in question.
“I co-chaired the committee on fuel subsidies, which has the president as the chairman, and everything about the subsidy regime and scam was discovered under my committee since then,” he said. Although recommendations were made, they were regrettably never carried out, which is very regrettable.
“I’m sorry to inform Nigerians that, based on what I observed, we had instances where subsidies were asserted for pipelines that never existed. The perpetrators of the subsidy scam will merely assert that they pump enormous quantities of crude oil from Warri to Kaduna and then simply fill up paperwork and invoices to claim subsidies on it.
“In reality, there was a case when a pipeline between Lagos and Warri was supposed to exist, and lots and tons of money were raised for subsidies for the pipeline that never materialized. For you, this is Nigeria.
“Attempts were made to remove the report we sent, but I’m telling you, putting policies into place can be quite frustrating, especially when cabals are involved. That is what has brought us to this point.
In 2012 and 2013, the subsidy regime should have ended, but the previous administration lacked the political will to do so.