Fuel Subsidy: Explain to Nigerians your economic policies – Isa Yuguda to Tinubu's Cabinet

Isa Yuguda, Former Governor of Bauchi

Former Governor of Bauchi State, Isa Yuguda, is of the view that the federal government still pays subsidies on petroleum products.

He said this during an interview with Channels Television’s Politics Today on Monday, March 4, 2024.

Recall that President Bola Tinubu announced in his inaugural speech the removal of subsidies.

Tinubu noted that the 2023 Budget made no provision for fuel subsidy and that it was no longer justifiable.

According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in one of its reports released last month, it advised Nigeria to completely phase out costly fuel and electricity subsidies as part of measures to address its economic challenges.

Sharing his thoughts on the issue, Yuguda said; “If the IMF says we are paying subsidy, then we are. But the subsidy that was removed was the one that was going into private pockets and I decoupled that subsidy that ordinarily shouldn’t have been paid.

“If it should have been paid it should be paid into the treasury of the country and today that revenue increase that we see is reflected in the removal of the monies that were going into the pockets of private individuals is what is going into the treasury of the country.

“You have that subsidy being paid on petrol products that are pumped through pipelines and in many instances, they are pumped through imaginary pipelines, where the pipelines don’t exist, so we all pay subsidy but that was what the President removed, that is why most states are getting twice or thrice of their allocation,” he said.

Speaking on the economic hardship ravaging the country, the former governor stated that Nigerians do not understand the challenges the President has to face in ensuring the situations are resolved.

According to him, “I will expect the cabinet of Mr President to go down the strata of our society and explain to the people that this is the situation that we have found ourselves in.”

“If we hadn’t had our Central Bank messing us up and the economy that has been mismanaged in the past, it wouldn’t be the way it is today.”