Petrol Price Hike: Subsidy Removal Necessary, Long Overdue – Presidency

• Presidency says past administrations lacked the courage to take unpopular decisions.

The presidency on Saturday said posterity will be kind to President Muhammadu Buhari as he would be remembered for having the courage to take decisive actions and bold steps that are motivated by pure altruism and greater good of all.

The senior special assistant to the president on media and publicity, Garba Shehu, made this known in a statement on Sunday.

The presidency was reacting to the mixed reactions that trailed the increase in pump price of petrol which was occasioned by the removal of subsidy from the downstream sector.

The Buhari-led administration in March announced to a dazed citizenry that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) would no longer shoulder the burden that comes with the discrepancies between the landing cost and retail price of petrol.

As a result of this, the retail price of petrol has been adjusted monthly to reflect the realities of the global crude oil market.

But Shehu, in the Sunday statement, said says past administrations did not have the courage to take unpopular decisions.

President Muhammadu Buhari will be remembered as the leader who made “real contributions to economic and overall national development by eliminating the evils of corruption embedded in subsidies”.

“Subsidy removal in these sectors had long been foreseen by successive administrations as game changers in search of solutions to move forward with the nation’s development. These are reforms that are necessary and overdue. Blueprint upon blueprint, timeline upon timeline had come and gone but the courage to take bold decisions was not there,” he said.

Also Read: Reforms: Presidency Urges Nigerians To Ignore Buhari’s Critics

According to Shehu, Buhari has shown the rare determination to carry out bold decisions that are driven by the desire to ensure the greatest good for the people.

“In carrying out the reforms, the president needs the support and understanding of all citizens-inclusive of the opposition parties, the labour movement and civil society groups,” the presidential aide said.

“In these challenging times, the president is pushing development goals, not politics and history will judge him in favourable terms rather than his critics in the new media and the opposition.”