The Adamawa State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Hon. Leader Leneke, has cautioned politicians against promising Nigerians a return to the fuel subsidy regime ahead of the 2027 general elections, insisting that the country has moved beyond the policy.
Leneke said the government should instead concentrate on finding sustainable ways to reduce the economic hardship caused by the removal of the subsidy and improve the welfare of citizens.
Speaking on Tuesday during an interview on Frontline, a current affairs programme on Eagle 102.5 FM, Ilese-Ijebu, the commissioner maintained that fuel prices could still come down through careful economic planning and expert calculations without returning to subsidy.
“We have passed the era of fuel subsidy in this country and we cannot return to it. The prices can come down by meticulous working and calculation of the experts in the industry, but not that we go back again to subsidizing fuel products in this country because that has been another monumental and colossal corruption channel for a lot of Nigerians,” he said.
His comments came against the backdrop of calls by some political actors, including former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, for the government to reconsider the removal of fuel subsidy.
Leneke argued that subsidy removal was not peculiar to the administration of President Bola Tinubu, noting that the policy featured prominently in the manifestos and campaign promises of major presidential candidates during the 2023 election.
“The issue of fuel subsidy removal was an issue practically every presidential aspirant in 2023 ran his campaign on. Everybody said they were going to remove fuel subsidy. Let’s establish that. Even Atiku Abubakar said he was going to remove fuel subsidy,” he said.
The commissioner, however, acknowledged that the removal of subsidy had imposed considerable hardship on Nigerians, stressing that the government needed to do more to cushion its impact.
“While we were talking here, nobody said the removal of fuel subsidy did not come with some level of hardship for Nigerians. We all agreed. We all acknowledged that,” he said.
According to him, proceeds from subsidy removal should be properly deployed to provide relief for citizens, particularly in the areas of transportation, mobility and other essential needs.
“My take would be that I agree. Probably some things need to be properly outlined… Like the proceeds from the fuel subsidy removal, how are they going to be channeled and used? What other measures in terms of palliatives can be inculcated to make life easy for citizens? Perhaps in terms of mobility, in terms of movement, transportation and all stuff,” Leneke said.
He said fuel remained critical to virtually every sector of the Nigerian economy, noting that businesses, transportation and other economic activities depend heavily on petroleum products.
“Fuel today is almost power in this country, all of our sectors are run by the function of fuel one way or the other. So, I believe there is still room for improvement in that direction,” he added.
Leneke further criticised what he described as inadequate planning for the consequences of subsidy removal, saying that beyond sharing additional revenue through the Federation Account Allocation Committee, government should establish targeted interventions to address the immediate and long-term effects of the policy.
“One of the reasons is because there was maybe no proper planning when we remove this subsidy, apart from the fact that the proceeds come, and they are shared through the Federal Allocation Committee. What else are the soft landing measures that government has put in place for citizens directly?” he asked.
The commissioner also faulted the former subsidy regime, arguing that its benefits were concentrated in the hands of a few while the majority of Nigerians suffered the consequences.
“What continued in that era and period to swindle Nigerians, only a few people benefited from it, only a few people ate from it, while the rest of the country suffered impoverishment and all of that,” he said.
He urged Nigerians to be wary of political promises centred on returning to the old subsidy system, arguing that such a move would not address the structural problems facing the economy.
“My opinion is that the fuel subsidy regime is already gone. Nobody should bamboozle us by promising us what he cannot deliver, that you’re taking us back to fuel subsidy regime again. No, that’s not what we need to do,” Leneke said.
“What we need to do is to find ways of relief, ways of alleviating the pains that the removal of the subsidy has brought on the people.”
While acknowledging that subsidy removal had increased government revenue and the resources available for distribution to the federating units, Leneke called for greater accountability from state governments in the utilisation of the additional funds.
“Of course, the removal of the subsidy has also brought advantages. It has added to so much of what revenue the government generates and is able to distribute to the federating units, that is the state,” he said.
He added that governments at the state level must be held accountable for how the funds were deployed, particularly in addressing the economic pressures faced by citizens following the subsidy removal.
