With about 67 days to left before an official hand over the reins of power to the incoming government, the United States of America (USA) has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to remove fuel subsidies which is a controversial issue in Nigeria before bowing out of office on the 29th of May, 2023.
Africa Today News, New York reports that the Buhari administration had recently vowed to remove the controversial petrol subsidy before the end of the current federal government.
Hajiya Zainab Ahmed who is the Minister of Finance, Budget, and National Planning made this known while attributing the delay in the removal of the subsidy, as provided for in the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021, to the 2023 general election and the forthcoming national population census.
Speaking during a courtesy visit to the headquarters of VON in Abuja, she however disclosed that no conclusion had been reached on how to mitigate the effect of the proposed fuel subsidy removal on the citizens.
Speaking through its outgoing Ambassador to Nigeria, Mary Beth Leonard, charged Buhari who said he was in a hurry to leave office to complete the unfinished job of fuel subsidy removal.
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In response to the president’s expression of satisfaction with the blossoming Nigeria-US relations, the ambassador in her remarks said she was happy with the progress made in Nigeria-US relations in the past three-and-half years, citing the recent institution of a five-year visa regime between the two countries, active collaboration in security and the supply of military hardware, including war planes and the soon-to-come fighter helicopters, and cooperation in the health sector to fight HIV and COVID-19 response.
She assured that the US will continue to assist in the strengthening of Nigeria’s health sector.
Leonard expressed her gratitude and that of the US government Buhari’s role in ensuring regional security and strengthening of democracy as a system of government, citing his strong response against the recent surge of coups-d’état in West Africa as worthy of commendation.
She expressed hope that even as he is preparing to leave, there are still a few more things the president could do, among which she mentioned the urgent need to remove fuel subsidy.
Earlier, Buhari had said given the chance of a free and fair election as well as non-interference as was witnessed in the February 25 and March 18 elections, Nigerians have proved to be capable of deciding who leads them without anyone telling them what to do.
Expressing satisfaction with the remarkable passion towards democracy exhibited by Nigerians through the choices they made in the presidential, National Assembly, and the subsequent governorship and state assembly elections, Buhari said Nigeria’s democracy has truly matured.
He stated: ‘People are realising their power. Given the chance of a free and fair vote, nobody can tell them what to do. I am unhappy that some candidates lost in the election. But I am inspired by the fact that voters were able to make their own decision, to decide who won and who lost.
‘With the currency change, there was no money to spread around but even then, I told voters to take the money and vote according to their consciences.’
A statement by presidential spokesman, Garba Shehu, further quoted President Buhari who was speaking at a farewell meeting with the outgoing United States Ambassador at the presidential villa as saying he was completely satisfied with his own role in the election process staying above it, without meddlesomeness or any form of interference.
The president commended the outgoing Ambassador for the enormous achievements recorded in Nigeria-US relations in the three-and-half years she had been here.
He chronicled a number of challenges faced by Nigeria as the country strives to unite our diverse communities and achieve national development and expressed his appreciation of the way the United States is able to hold together as a nation.
Buhari expressed the hope that Nigeria will continue to make progress in building a nation out of our different and competitive communities.
He added that he enjoyed working with the Ambassador and wished that she had more time to serve here.