A former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, has asserted that Nigeria’s woes started the day President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was sworn in to manage the nation’s affairs.
Naija News recalls that the inauguration of President Tinubu was held on May 29, 2023.
In his inaugural speech, the former Governor of Lagos State declared that the era of fuel subsidy is gone and that it is no longer part of the government’s plan to subsidize the commodity.
This development has since impacted the price of goods and services across the country.
Speaking during a discussion on Trust TV’s Daily Politics today, Lawal further explained that the removal of the fuel subsidy led to a rise in transportation costs, which greatly affected both the affluent and the ordinary citizens who heavily rely on transportation for their businesses.
The former AGF criticized the decision made on May 29, emphasizing that the absence of a functioning cabinet and the Federal Executive Council to address the repercussions of such a harsh policy ultimately led to Tinubu’s downfall and the subsequent collapse of the nation.
Lawal highlighted the significant impact of Tinubu’s unexpected announcement, according to him, has resulted in severe economic challenges.
He said: “I can only repeat what I said before. I’ve spoken on this before. First of all, I did say one time you came into government on the day you were inaugurated,” he said.
“After swearing in you embark on the first major policies that are very impactful on the lives of the society. It is like a cowboy, or macho man removing subsidy. At that time, he didn’t have a minister of planning, that should plan the outcome, the consequences to take care.
“You don’t have a minister of finance who will calculate the impact of this society. You did not even have the federal executive council that will approve that, you have nothing. As at that time, nobody to advise, nobody to break out ‘what ifs’”.
Speaking further, Lawal said, “So immediately after that inauguration, Nigeria collapsed. It is like a balloon. Nigeria fell down. It deflated completely. Immediately transportation (fare) tripled,” he noted.
“That week! I used to buy animal feed for my cows from Zaria, I used to pay N270,000 per truck. Immediately that week, I couldn’t buy anymore, because transportation alone was going to cost me N1 million,” Lawal shares from his personal experience as a farmer.
“I couldn’t afford it because the cost of fuel just jumped up. Everything. Last week I bought some equipment for my farm. I wanted to transport it from Kano, they were asking me to pay N3 million to transport three tractors and only to be put in a trailer. One trailer carrying three tractors!. Everything has gone up. So that policy alone crashed everything,” he added.
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