The federal government says that it never lied about the controversial fuel subsidy scheme in the country.
Bayo Onanuga, special adviser on information and strategy to President Bola Tinubu, disclosed this is post on his social media official page on Tuesday.
Onanuga said the federal government has been faithful to its policy that it was no longer going to pay fuel subsidies after Tinubu announced the deregulation of the PMS sector on 29 May 2023.
News About Nigeria recalls that Tinubu announced the removal of subsidy on petrol the day he was inaugurated into office with the popular “subsidy is gone” speech.
The action, however, caused prices of commodities to rise through the roof, increasing hardship in the country which has made some of his critics condemn the subsidy removal as a policy not well thought out.
However, Onanuga’s rebuttal was contained in a post titled “Tinubu government did not lie about fuel subsidies.”
“I have read a series of articles attacking the Federal Government for not telling the truth about fuel subsidy payments, following NNPC Limited’s admittance it was owing suppliers some $6 billion,” the post reads.
“Some of the stories have been written with relish, as the authors believed they have uncovered some scoops.
“The truth is that there is no discovery. No lie uncovered. The government has been faithful to its policy that it was no longer going to pay fuel subsidies since President Tinubu announced the deregulation of the PMS sector on 29 May 2023. Since then, subsidy provisions have disappeared from the budget. It was not in the Supplementary budget of 2023, not in the 2024 budget and the amended 2024 budget.
“So the giddy headlines about the so-called unraveling of the Tinubu government’s subsidy payment; and return of subsidy were not justifiable.
