What Buhari said about Tinubu when he removed fuel subsidy

DDM NEWS

Tinubu and Buhari

Muhammadu Buhari, the former President of Nigeria, reportedly said that if he had removed fuel subsidy during his tenure, Bola Tinubu, the current President, would not have won the 2023 presidential election.

According to Garba Shehu, Buhari’s former spokesperson, the ex-president commended Tinubu’s administration for successfully implementing the removal of petrol subsidy and attempting to unify the naira exchange rate.

Buhari’s statement was in response to critics questioning why he didn’t remove fuel subsidy during his eight-year tenure, while Tinubu did so shortly after taking office.

Shehu explained that successive polls indicated the ruling party would have lost the 2023 election if the Petroleum Industry Act, containing the petrol subsidy removal, was implemented before then

Interestingly, Buhari expressed happiness over Tinubu’s decision to remove fuel subsidy, stating it would lead to fewer visitors to his hometown, Daura.

Speaking in Hausa at a gathering hosted by the Katsina Consultative Forum, Buhari noted that the increased fuel prices would likely reduce the number of people visiting him .

The removal of fuel subsidy has been a contentious issue in Nigeria, with proponents arguing it’s necessary for economic reform and opponents claiming it has led to increased hardship.

Tinubu’s administration has maintained that the decision was necessary to rescue the economy from fiscal collapse and block areas of leakage and waste.

In summary, Buhari’s statement suggests that removing fuel subsidy during his tenure would have had significant political costs, potentially leading to his party’s loss in the 2023 election.

The decision to leave the subsidy in place until Tinubu’s administration may have been a strategic move to avoid adding fuel to the fire, as Buhari put it, ahead of the elections ¹.

In the same vein, the Governor of Katsina State, Dikko Radda, has recalled some of his conversations with the late former President Muhammadu Buhari after his retirement, one of which was about President Bola Tinubu’s removal of the petrol subsidy while being sworn in as president.

Mr Radda spoke to reporters in Daura at the sidelines of the former president’s burial ceremony. The former president died in the United Kingdom on Sunday at the age of 82.

The governor said that after Mr Buhari left office in 2023 and retired to Daura, Katsina State, he interacted with him more often and benefited from his leadership tutelage and patriotism.

“After he left office in 2023, he spent about two years in Daura, Katsina. In that period, I was fortunate to interact with him more frequently, discussing national issues. He was a jovial person who often made me laugh,” Mr Radda said.

He said his discussion with Mr Buhari revolved around Nigerians’ plights and patriotism.

“He always told me that ‘Your Excellency, go and do your best and be honest as a leader. You cannot satisfy Nigerians; only God can do that.’ He said he suffered a lot, but now he sees himself as a free man with a sense of relief.

“Let me use his words: ‘I pity Bola (President Tinubu) for what he is doing.

He is a brave man for removing the fuel subsidy.

When I was president, whenever I made an attempt to remove the subsidy, a lot of people would give me too many reasons not to do so.

But Bola did it immediately. If he had consulted people, he could not have removed the fuel subsidy now,” Mr Radda recalled a conversation with the late former president.

Mr Radda said that was one of their discussions that he will always remember.

He said Mr Buhari’s death has created a vacuum in Katsina State that will be difficult to fill.

Mr Tinubu removed the petrol subsidy on 29 May 2023, the day he succeeded Mr Buhari.

He said he decided to do so to grow the economy and promote national development.

He said the Nigerian economy had remained anaemic for decades and taken a dip because of many misalignments that had stunted its growth.

For Diaspora Digital Media Updates click on Whatsapp, or Telegram. For eyewitness accounts/ reports/ articles, write to: citizenreports@diasporadigitalmedia.com. Follow us on X (Fomerly Twitter) or Facebook