All Progressives Congress (APC) Professionals Forum, has exonerated President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, from the current economic challenges bedeviling the country.
Speaking at the inaugural edition of the Asiwaju Scorecard Series held in Abuja on Tuesday, the Chairman, Board of Trustees of the Forum, Dr. Isa Yuguda noted that the President did not create the existing economic challenges but has been effectively managing them to prevent further deterioration.
He highlighted the President’s decisive actions, including the controversial removal of the fuel subsidy.
“The President did not create any of the problems people are talking about whether in the economy or in the other sectors. Infact what he met on ground would have created a worse situation if not properly handled but he is championing reforms that are required to pave way for a better society,” Yuguda claimed.
According to him, the removal of the subsidy, long mired in corruption, was necessary and beneficial, pointing out that petrol importation had decreased by 50% since June 2023.
“We all recall how on assuming office, President Tinubu announced the removal of fuel subsidy but again for the avoidance of doubt he did not remove subsidy on PMS. It was not in the later part of the 2023 budget but surprisingly the Tinubu administration has had to bear the brunt for subsidy removal.
“Let me quickly add that my opposition to fuel subsidy has been well documented since the Goodluck Jonathan years when as chairman of a subcommittee on the economic meltdown, we recommended its removal after a discovery of the scam being perpetrated in the name of fuel subsidy.
“A recent study also showed that inspite of the COVID-19 lockdown of 2020, Nigeria still paid billions of naira for fuel subsidy even though in reality, domestic fuel consumption was very low.
“Indeed, the President has today been proved right with the manner petrol importation has gone down by 50% since June 2023 and it is almost certain to go down more in a few months when the 650,000 barrels per day Dangote Refinery begin to produce PMS locally as well as the impending resumption of production at the Port Harcourt and Warri Refineries,” he explained.
Yuguda therefore praised the positive fiscal impacts of the subsidy removal, noting a significant increase in allocations from the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) to states.
“If any Nigerian is still in doubt about how payment of subsidy has over the years strained the country’s resources, they must have seen how the subnationals now receive more than double what they used to get from Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC).
“At the last FAAC meeting, the total distributable revenue for April 2024 was N1.2trilllon, the highest ever disbursement in history. This time last year in the subsidy era, what was shared was N655.8bn. So the subnationals especially are receiving double their previous allocations and therefore have more funds for critical infrastructure and should be doing more to provide succor to the people.” He said
Yuguda further highlighted the steady increase in oil production from 1.22 million barrels per day in Q2 2023 to 1.55 million barrels per day, along with rising non-oil revenues due to the administration’s financial reforms, noting that this improvement in resource management has significantly reduced the debt service-to-revenue ratio from a staggering 183% in early 2023 to 66.9%, the lowest in four years.
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