Festus Keyamo, the Chief Spokesman for the All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign, has clarified that President Bola Tinubu did not remove fuel subsidy. Keyamo stated that a section of the media is twisting the narrative to read that Tinubu’s government has removed subsidy, despite the president proclaiming that subsidy was gone while giving his inaugural speech on May 29.
The former Minister of State for Labour explained that Tinubu’s administration only inherited a regime where there was no provision for subsidy in the 2023 Appropriation Act beginning June 2023, and the Petroleum Industry Act, which is now extant, has no provision for subsidy.
In a series of tweets on his official handle, @fkeyamo, he said, “President Tinubu merely acknowledged this state of affairs in his inaugural speech at the Eagle Square.”
Keyamo also challenged advocates of subsidy to convince the Nigerian people why President Tinubu should start on a note of illegality by promising to reintroduce something which the law has taken away. He argued that such advocates should also convince the Nigerian people why President Tinubu should embark on a present illegality that gulped $10 billion of scarce or unavailable resources in 2022 alone.
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He further added that those claiming to defend the rights or welfare of workers should convince the Nigerian people that the $10 billion injected into the economy annually will not jumpstart the economy enough to create massive jobs and even increase the same minimum wage they complain about.
The clarification by Keyamo comes amidst controversy surrounding Tinubu’s stance on fuel subsidy removal. The APC Presidential candidate had promised during his campaign that he would remove fuel subsidy if elected. However, his recent statement during his inaugural speech has caused confusion among Nigerians, with some interpreting it as a confirmation of subsidy removal.
It is expected that the APC Presidential Campaign will continue to clarify the position of Tinubu’s administration on fuel subsidy in the coming days.
Source: PunchNG