The presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, has said that while he supported the removal of petroleum subsidy, he would have handled the process differently from how President Bola Tinubu carried it out.
Naija News reports that Obi made the clarification during an interview with Rufai Oseni, responding to claims that he had criticised Tinubu over the subsidy removal announced at his inauguration in 2023.
Obi explained that his issue was never with the decision to remove the subsidy, but with the manner and timing of its implementation.
“I didn’t criticise Tinubu for removing the subsidy. I said I would have removed it, but in an organised manner. I wouldn’t have announced it at my inauguration,” Obi said.
According to him, he would have first held consultations with stakeholders and operators in the petroleum sector before making such a far-reaching policy announcement.
“I would have first sat down with operators in the industry because we know there is a lot of criminality around the subsidy,” he added.
Obi noted that any genuine subsidy removal plan must be backed by clarity on the actual cost of the scheme to the country, alongside decisive steps to tackle corruption in the sector.
“I would remove it to determine the exact amount being spent on subsidy and also address the issue of exchange rate deregulation. But in doing these things, the most important thing is to fight corruption head-on,” he said.
The NDC candidate maintained that any policy reform of this nature must be designed in a way that shields ordinary Nigerians from its harshest effects.
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