Mojeed Dahiru, a public affairs analyst has described the removal of fuel subsidy as taking from Nigerians the last most important and effective intervention in their lives.
He asserted that energy needs to be subsidised by the government for the sake of productivity, noting that no economy can survive having a high cost of energy.
President Bola Tinubu on May 29 during his inauguration speech declared that fuel subsidy was gone, adding that no provision was made for it in the budget by the previous administration.
Mojeed who made this known recently while speaking during an interview programme on Africa Independent Television (AIT) said every government must privatise energy security which means the availability of energy at affordable prices.
He said former President Muhammadu Buhari removed the subsidy in 2016 when he jacked up the price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) otherwise called petrol from N87 he inherited in 2015 to N145 and declared that subsidy was gone.
According to Dahiru, the move had consequences as Nigeria went into a recession immediately.
Garba Shehu, a former spokesperson for ex-President Buhari recently said the past administration declined to take the remove fuel subsidy because doing so would have jeopardised the chances of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2023 general elections.
Dahiru, however, insisted that it is not true.
He said; "The statement by the former President Buhari that he delayed subsidy removal for APC (All Progressives Congress) to win election is a product of low thinking, that characterised eight years of President Buhari’s administration.
“It is not true that the former President didn’t remove subsidy. President Buhari removed subsidy in 2016, where he jacked up the price of PMS from N87 he inherited in 2015 to N145 and declared subsidy gone.
"But there was a consequence to that action, Nigeria went into recession immediately. That singular action depressed the economy. They did it with the same promises that the present administration is making now, that the price will come down when there is competition and deregulation.
“As the time, Buhari was preparing for his own election, so he restored subsidy so that he could win the election.
"Energy needs to be subsidized, not just petrol. Also products and services need to be subsidised by the government because of productivity sake. No economy survives high cost of energy. That is why it is the priority of every government in the world to subsidise food and energy.
"Why will subsidy removal lead to loss of election? It’s because it’s a bad thing to do. It’s like removing from the people the last most important and effective intervention in their lives. So, if you are going to do something that will make you lose election, it means you should not do it. To Nigerians, it is like they have taken from them the last thing that government is managing to give them.
"In 2022, the global amount of money spent to subsidise energy was $1.3 trillion. When government subsidise energy globally, they are doing it to boost productivity.”
According to Dahiru, “they have scammed us”.
“If the case is true that only a few benefits from the subsidy, why will it have led to the loss of an election?” he asked.
"The economy is on the downhill, people are trekking to work, people are losing their jobs, companies are shutting down because PMS is the most important energy in Nigeria.
“Every government must privatise energy security which means availability of energy at affordable prices," he added.