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Sam Ohuabunwa, a previous presidential candidate for the Peoples Democratic Party in the general elections of 2023, claims that the past year's events indicate President Bola Tinubu was correct to abolish the divisive fuel subsidy program.
The remarks were made by the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria's most recent president during his Sunday night appearance as a guest on Politics Today on Channels Television, monitored by our correspondent.
Ohuabunwa's support for the elimination of subsidies comes just hours after the President reaffirmed that his administration acted in the people's best interest, emphasizing that it was imperative to prevent the nation from becoming bankrupt.
Tinubu stated this during a panel session at the ongoing World Economic Forum in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Sunday, which focuses on Global Collaboration, Growth, and Energy for Development.
But Ohuabunwa insisted that the president’s position on the issue in Riyadh mirrored the thoughts of many Nigerians.
According to him, “He (Tinubu) was on the spot. He spoke forcefully and spoke like a leader. I must admit he made the right point and many people will agree with him that the country faced what we call a revenue crisis. We were spending so much money subsidizing petroleum and just busy going to fill the gap by borrowing from everywhere we could borrow from, instead of thinking of how to reduce our costs and outgoings.
“So it was clear that there was a crisis and if not nothing was done, there was the possibility of a real financial bankruptcy for the country. His explanation that he had to do it was the hallmark of leadership.
“I think it will be positive because the president sounded quite strong. He sounded like somebody who was on the board, who had control over the situation, and who had a deep-seated understanding of what needed to be done to save his country from going into bankruptcy. His words reverberated with those people who understand banking, financial decisions, and the difficulty of any nation or corporation going into bankruptcy,” he added.
