Prince Adewole Adebayo, the 2023 presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), says President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s greatest policy mistake is fuel subsidy removal.
According to him, Nigerians should prepare for higher fuel prices, as the current increase is only the beginning.
He said the price of fuel will keep increasing as long as the government continues to rely on “market forces to determine fuel prices.”
A statement from his media office said Tinubu is using the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to artificially keep prices lower than they would be under true market conditions.
He however cautioned that the strategy is unsustainable because of NNPC’s financial struggles, especially substantial debt.
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The former presidential candidate, who had repeatedly opposed the removal of the subsidy, said it was a misstep, that would drive petrol prices toward an unsustainable equilibrium.
“I knew that one of the greatest mistakes you could ever make was to adopt a policy of removing the subsidy” he said, adding that market forces would inevitably push the price up, making it unaffordable for ordinary Nigerians.
He opined that the true cost of subsidy removal far outweighs the financial burden it places on the government.
“These costs outweigh the savings from subsidy removal by a factor of five to one.
“If removal of subsidy is a good thing, then all of you should send a letter of congratulations to President Tinubu,” he stated, alluding to the widespread discontent following the subsidy removal.
