Special Adviser to former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, Reno Omokri, has refuted claims that President Bola Tinubu increased the price of fuel in the country, News About Nigeria reports.
He debunked this claim in a statement via his verified handle on X on Wednesday.
Omokri noted that the headlines stating that the President increased the price of fuel are inaccurate, adding that they do not reflect the actual situation.
According to him, saying that the president increased the price of fuel betrays a lack of understanding of corporate governance and unawareness of how government operates.
Omokri noted that what the President did was to remove the Subsidy on fuel which was scheduled by the Buhari administration and implemented in 2023.
He stated that the NNPCL should be held responsible for the increase in fuel price because it is a limited liability company that is not subject to the President’s direct control.
The statement reads in part, “The headlines screaming, ‘President Tinubu Increases Fuel Price’ are inaccurate and do not reflect the actual situation. Nigerians ought to understand that fuel subsidy has been removed. It was scheduled for removal by the preceding Buhari administration and was implemented in 2023.
“It betrays a lack of understanding of corporate governance and unawareness of how government operates when politicians and activists attack President Bola Tinubu over statements and actions of the NNPCL.
“If the public is not made aware that such criticism knowingly or inadvertently passed on wrong information to them, they will act on this incorrect information as though it were true.
“The NNPCL is a limited liability company that is not subject to the President’s direct control. The NNPCL right now is like the NLNG Limited and, to a limited extent, the CBN.
“Both the NLNG Ltd and the NNPCL are answerable to their board. They can spend money outside the budget because they are not a Ministry, Department or Agency of the government. They are just like any other company, such as MTN, First Bank or Indorama. The only difference between these companies and the NNPCL is their ownership. They are owned by private individuals and are publicly traded. The Nigerian state owns the NNPCL.”
