Fayemi blasts Jonathan over 2012 subsidy stalemate, hails Tinubu’s boldness

Fayemi blasts Jonathan over 2012 subsidy stalemate, hails Tinubu’s boldness

Former Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, has taken a swipe at ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, accusing him of lacking the political will to fully implement fuel subsidy removal in 2012, despite strong support from the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF).

Fayemi made the remarks on Tuesday in Abuja at the Oxford Global Think Tank Leadership Conference and Book Launch, while responding to comments by the Emir of Kano and former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Muhammadu Sanusi II.

Sanusi had earlier commended President Bola Tinubu for scrapping the subsidy regime, but also pointed fingers at Tinubu for allegedly frustrating similar efforts during Jonathan’s tenure.

“I’ll be the first to give credit to this government for removing the fuel subsidy,” Sanusi said. “But the same President must take the blame for sabotaging the efforts to remove the fuel subsidy in the past, in 2012.”

Sanusi, who said he has consistently advocated for subsidy removal for over three decades, added: “The best time to have planted the tree was 25 years ago. The second-best time is now.”

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Fayemi, however, countered the narrative that opposition parties were the main obstacle in 2012, insisting that governors were actually in favour of the policy shift.

“When we’re talking about the 2012 Occupy Nigeria and the opposition to President Jonathan, the truth of the matter was that the Nigerian Governors’ Forum, of which I was a member, were the major advocate for subsidy removal,” Fayemi said.

He acknowledged that his party, the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), opposed the move at the time, but noted that he and former Edo State Governor Adams Oshiomhole actively campaigned for it.

Fayemi argued that Jonathan failed to follow through on his own policy, saying: “There’s something to be said for President Jonathan lacking the conviction to go ahead and do what he believed in.”

He praised President Tinubu for showing “political courage” by removing the subsidy immediately upon assuming office in May 2023.

“What did President Tinubu do? He came in and said subsidy is gone from day one. He could have opted out of it, especially when the pressure started mounting in the first month and prices began to rise. But he stayed on course,” Fayemi said.

However, he warned that the real test lies in managing the fallout from the policy.

“The devil is always in the details,” he said. “What has come after that is how to manage it so that the population does not feel a sense of loss as they are feeling at this particular point in time.”

Fayemi blasts Jonathan over 2012 subsidy stalemate, hails Tinubu’s boldness