Former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara on Friday exonerated President Bola Ahmed Tinubu over the removal of the fuel subsidy regime in the nation.
According to Dogara, though the President Tinubu made the announcement of the removal, he didn’t remove the subsidy.
The former Speaker stressed that there was no provision for fuel subsidy in the 2023 budget before Tinubu made the announcement.
Dogara stated this while featuring on Channels TV on Friday.
He, however, insisted that fuel subsidy removal was a good move for Nigeria despite its effects.
“In this case, there was no provision for it. And anybody who told you Tinubu suspended it was just joking. Because how did he suspend payment that was not budgeted for in the first instance?
“There was no provision for subsidy in that budget. And I am not aware of any amendment that took place to accommodate the payment of subsidy.
“The truth is that he (Tinubu) was not the one who removed the subsidy. But he did make that pronouncement.
“There was no provision for it in the budget and you know the budget is backed by the Constitution. If there’s no provision for it in the budget, then how do you pay for it?”
Recall that President Tinubu during his inauguration speech on May 29, 2023 announced the removal of subsidy on petroleum.
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