"As controversial as that initiative has been, no one can deny the fact that it was a very welcome initiative. That was a subsidy that Nigeria could no longer afford; it was a subsidy that was not in the budget beyond June 2023."
Ogun state governor, Dapo Abiodun, has revealed why President Bola Tinubu hurriedly announced the end to fuel subsidy in Nigeria.
Mr Abiodun said this was because the president knew Nigerians would take "adverse advantage of the process" if prolonged.
The governor said this after meeting former President Olusegun Obasanjo in Abeokuta on Tuesday.
PREMIUM TIMES reported that the meeting started around 11:58 a.m. at the private residence of the Obasanjo Presidential Library.
It would be recalled that the current president, Mr Tinubu, who was the candidate of the APC, defeated Mr Obasanjo's preferred candidate, Peter Obi, of the Labour Party, and other candidates in the 25th February election.
Despite their political differences, Mr Obasanjo has a father-to-son relationship with the governor.
Speaking with journalists after the meeting, Mr Abiodun said, "People have questioned why didn't President Bola Ahmed Tinubu wait till measures were in place before implementing this policy.
"The truth is that we know ourselves; we are Nigerians. Ince a terminal for subsidy is announced, we will continue to take adverse advantages of that process. So it was not a bad idea to bite the bullet and begin to deal with it."
President Tinubu announced the removal of the petrol subsidy in his inaugural address on 29 May.
The governor refused to disclose the purpose of his meeting with the former president to journalists.
"It is a private meeting. A son does not have to have any particular reason to come and see his father, so I have come to see our baba, and it is a private meeting", Mr Abiodun said.
The governor, while speaking on fuel subsidy removal, lamented that Nigeria lost N4 trillion annually to the subsidy regime, insisting that "there was no better time to remove the subsidy than now."
He added, "We all know that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu's administration started with a bang. On the 29th of May, he reeled out a few initiatives. One of the most laudable of those initiatives was his decision to remove subsidy on petroleum products.
"As controversial as that initiative has been, no one can deny the fact that it was a very welcome initiative. That was a subsidy that Nigeria could no longer afford; it was a subsidy that was not in the budget beyond June 2023.
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"More importantly, it was costing Nigeria about N4 trillion per annum, N4 trillion that Nigeria did not have, that we have had to borrow, that could be better expended to other uses that the common man can feel, so it was a very right decision.
"Of course, it was a decision that also came with a bit of pain, but like they say, there is no gain without some pain", Mr Abiodun added.
He appealed to Nigerians to endure the hardship of increasing fuel prices, saying the benefits of subsidy removal outweigh the pain.
Palliative
On the efforts put in place to cushion the effect of the subsidy removal, the governor said his administration had rolled out a series of palliatives for civil servants, pensioners and the people of the state.
The palliatives, he said, include the approval for the payment of N10,000 cash for each public servant and pensioner in the state.
He said the implementation of the policy took effect from 1st July.
"What you saw us announce for implementation in Ogun State yesterday (Monday) are part of the initiatives that the federal government has designed for implementation at the various state levels.
"What we have just done is to immediately begin that implementation because as soon the president announced deregulation, we had sat down with members of our labour unions - TUC, NLC and the JNC to discuss the different options that will be acceptable for all of us. So that allowed us to be able to fast-track our own policies.
"We believe that these initiatives should immediately ameliorate the pain our people are feeling, and I am sure that you will see that other state governments are doing the same."
