Usman Bugaje, a former member of the House of Representatives has berated the Bola Tinubu’s government for pronouncing the fuel subsidy without plans to cushion the impact of the move.
Tinubu’s declaration of an end to the fuel subsidy era during his inauguration and the floating of the naira – the country’s currency – triggered a hike in the cost of living and tripled the price of the commodity.
But Bugaje says Tinubu’s government had little preparation before taking such a step.
“We had expected that when the new government took over, we were expecting that he would surround himself with expertise. We were expecting that for him to have announced the removal of the fuel subsidy, he must have had a plan – something that would address the consequences of that,” the political activist said on Monday’s edition of Channels Television’s Politics Today.
“You don’t make a policy without looking at the consequences and preparing to cushion the effect of that. But apparently, he did that without preparation.”
Since the announcement, the government has reeled out several plans and has had several meetings with labour unions on measures to cushion the impacts of the subsidy removal.
But Bugaje has faulted government officials, especially at the federal level for being out of touch with the plight of Nigerians.
He claimed they are bereft of ideas to address the problems that emanated from the removal of subsidy and other challenges facing Nigeria.
