Abiodun meets Obasanjo, appeals for calm over hardship of subsidy removal

• Abiodun did not reveal the details of his meeting with Obasanjo but spoke on other topical issues
• He urged Nigerians to endure the hardship of increasing fuel prices

Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State says both federal and state governments are working relentlessly to bring succour to suffering Nigerians amid the widespread hardship occasioned by the removal of subsidy.

Abiodun made the disclosure while addressing newsmen after a closed-door meeting with former President Olusegun Obasanjo at his residence in Abeokuta on Tuesday.

Abiodun did not reveal the details of his meeting with Obasanjo but spoke on other topical issues

Abiodun lamented that Nigeria lost about N4 trillion annually to the subsidy regime and insisting that there was no better time to remove the subsidy than now.

Abiodun assured Nigerians that the government would put the funds saved as a result of oil subsidy removal to better use in revamping the country’s economy.

He said: “We all know that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration started with a bang. On 29th May, he reeled out a few initiatives, one of the most laudable of those initiatives was his decision to remove subsidy on petroleum products.

“As controversial as that initiative has been, no one can deny the fact that it was a very welcome initiative. That was a subsidy that Nigeria could no longer afford; it was a subsidy that was not in the budget beyond June 2023.

“More importantly, it was costing Nigeria about N4 trillion per annum—N4 trillion that Nigeria did not have, that we have had to borrow, that could be better expended to other uses that the common man can feel, so it was a very right decision.

“Of course, it was a decision that also came with a bit of pain, but like they say, there is no gain without some pain.”

He urged Nigerians to endure the hardship of increasing fuel prices, saying the benefits of the subsidy removal outweigh the pain.

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