The chief spokesperson for the All Progressive Congress Presidential campaign, Festus Keyamo has said President Tinibu did not remove subsidy as being mischievously portrayed by some sections of the media. According to him, some sections of the media are painting it as if President Tinibu was the one responsible for the removal of the subsidy in Nigeria despite Tinibu proclaiming that the subsidy is gone for good during his inaugural speech on the 29th of May, 2023.
Keyamo, a former state Minister for labor under the former president Buhari administration added that President Tinibu only inherited a regime where there was no provision for the subsidy for the remaining half part of the year 2023 by the former president Buhari administration.
On his official Twitter page @fkeyamo, the former Minister said “A section of the Press is mischievously twisting the narrative to read that Tinubu’s government has removed subsidy. That is not correct. Tinubu’s govt has merely inherited a regime where there was no provision for subsidy in the 2023 Appropriation Act as of June 2023 and the Petroleum Industry Act which is now extant has no provision for subsidy.
“President Tinubu merely acknowledged this state of affairs in his inaugural speech at the Eagle Square.
“So, any advocate of subsidy should 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. They should also convince the Nigerian people why President Tinubu should embark on a present illegality that gulped $10 billion of our scarce or unavailable resources in 2022 alone.”
He explained that those who claim to defend the right of workers should find a way to convince the Nigerian people that if the $ 10 billion is being injected into the economy annually it will no doubt jumpstart the economy to an extent that massive job and affordable lifestyle including the minimum wage will be a thing of the past.
