A former Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, has said former President Goodluck Jonathan never had the political will to remove Nigeria’s long-standing fuel subsidy during his administration, even when state governors and key stakeholders supported him to do so.
Fayemi who was governor of Ekiti State made the revelation on Tuesday in Abuja when he addressed the Oxford Global Think Tank Leadership Conference, where he examined the country’s economic trajectory, leadership values, and the boldness required to implement tough policy decisions.
Recalling the 2012 Occupy Nigeria protests when Jonathan moved to remove the subsidy, Fayemi said the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF), of which he was a member, had strongly called for removal of the subsidy because of was draining the economy.
Fayemi said “When we’re talking about 2012 Occupy Nigeria and the opposition to President Jonathan, the truth of the matter was that the Nigerian Governors’ Forum, of which I was a member, were the major advocates for subsidy removal.”
According to the former governor, although opposition Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), publicly went against the policy, several of its senior members including himself and former Edo State governor Adams Oshiomhole actively defended subsidy removal during town hall engagements.
“Yes, my party, the Action Congress of Nigeria at the time, did not support subsidy removal. In fact, myself and Oshiomhole were active promoters of it in all the town hall meetings that were held at the time,” Fayemi added.
He said the former president gave in to political pressure instead of being firm on an economically sound reform that would have reduced fiscal waste and curbed corruption associated with fuel importation claims.
“I think when people want to blame the opposition for not lining up behind President Jonathan, there’s something to be said for President Jonathan lacking the conviction to go ahead to do what he believed in and ensure that subsidy is removed,” he said.
Fayemi praised President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for removing the subsidy immediately he took over, despite the sharp rise in living costs and public criticism that followed.
“What did President Tinubu do? He came in and said subsidy is gone from day one. He could have opted out of it, especially when the pressure started mounting in the first month and prices began to rise. But he stayed on course and that is the courage we must commend him for,” he noted.
He, however, advised the government to prioritize effective management of the policy’s ripple effects particularly inflation, energy costs, and widespread economic hardship.
“The devil is always in the detail,” he warned, adding that “what comes after is how you manage it so that the population does not feel a sense of loss, as they are feeling at this particular point in time.”
