The Leader of the Senate, Opeyemi Bamidele, on Monday, explained how key beneficiaries of fuel subsidies made governance difficult for President Bola Tinubu in the first eighteen months of his administration.

Bamidele, who represents Ekiti Central in the Senate, also expressed confidence that the 2025 Appropriation Act would largely solve the country’s socio-economic challenges not only at the national level but also at the sub-national level.

He made this clarification in a statement his Directorate of Media and Public Affairs issued, highlighting the imperatives of fuel subsidy removal at the inception of Tinubu’s administration.

He explained the socioeconomic and political predicaments that confronted the President, describing how the economic predators fought and undermined his administration because he removed the fuel subsidy.

Bamidele said: “I am convinced that the president did the right thing by removing the fuel subsidy, for which the 9th National Assembly made provision till May 2023. However, the people who made governance difficult for President Tinubu were those benefiting from fuel subsidies.

“It was not common men and women of this country who were benefiting from the fuel subsidy. It was not. It was members of the cabal who had access to the fuel subsidy. They are the ones taking away this privilege all in the name and on behalf of the masses. And the masses did not benefit from it.

“I was part of the 9th National Assembly. At that time, we had agreed with the executive arm that the fuel subsidy should be removed because it was no longer in the overriding interest of the country. The Tinubu administration acted based on the policy direction the National Assembly approved before his inauguration on May 29, 2023.

“In the 2023 budget, the National Assembly only made provision for fuel subsidy till May 2023. Whether President Tinubu was removed at his inauguration or not, there was no longer funding for subsidy because we did not make provision for it beyond May 2023.

“He did not say he was going to remove the fuel subsidy. He simply said fuel subsidy was gone simply because the National Assembly only made provision for it till May 2023. Even if he did not say it, the fuel subsidy would have gone in two days after his inauguration.”

Bamidele noted that if the National Assembly made provision for subsidy, it would definitely deny all the sub-national governments from receiving adequate statutory transfers from the Federation Accounts to run their administration.

He further noted that if the fuel subsidy was retained, it would have automatically plunged the country into an intractable fiscal crisis, possibly another economic meltdown because the country no longer could fund the subsidy programme.

He revealed that the proceeds realised from the fuel subsidy “are now being allocated directly to the sub-national governments to drive development and boost domestic economy. These are the points we need to emphasise in our public engagement.

“Running an economy indeed calls for strategic response. The strategic steps being taken are not something that will yield a positive outcome within 24 hours. If the subsidy had not been removed, our economy would have been in shambles or would have been flat on the floor.

“This administration has not been in office for up to two years. Much has been achieved across all strategic sectors, and diverse reforms are ongoing to further deepen the gains of the administration. If fuel subsidy is retained, only God knows what will happen to this federation,” the Senate leader observed.

Bamidele, also, assured Nigerians that the 2025 Appropriation Act would largely solve diverse challenges that had been confronting the country not only at the national level but also at the sub-national level.

Sadly enough, according to him, a lot of people are not paying attention to the sub-national governments.

For instance, he mentioned statutory transfers to the sub-national governments from the Federal Accounts have significantly increased which has not been emphasised enough.

He noted that the sub-national governments, both state and local, “are also passing their budgets. What is important is to get the focus of the budget at the national level and sub-national levels right.

“What is the focus of the 2025 budget being passed? Does it address the welfare of the people? Does it prioritise the critical sector of the economy, including education?

“What is the scale of attention being paid to health and social welfare? What is the percentage of the budget going to agriculture?

“Compared to the previous fiscal years, the federal government is devoting less to recurrent expenditure while more is being devoted to capital expenditure. That is a major shift from what had been in practice since the return to democracy. It means we are spending less on consumables.”

Besides, he commended the President for implementing diverse measures to stabilise the domestic economy, saying his administration “is determined not to retrench Nigerian workers regardless of the situation the country finds itself in.”

He noted that retrenching workers “is not an option before this administration because it will cause more problems. Look at our situation.

“We are confronted with grave security challenges that nearly erode the gains of the administration, especially in the area of agriculture. This is mainly because people could no longer go to farms. It was quite a bad situation but we are gradually coming out of it.

“While it is not yet Uhuru, the security situation is fast improving across the federation today. Some of the IDPs are gradually relocating to their base. Farmers are too steadily returning to their farms. Altogether, things are improving. I am sure that things will be different very soon.”