The immediate past president of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari had earlier in the week revealed that contrary to what many were made to believe, the withdrawal of oil subsidy was not motivated by the country’s economic interests but rather as a political move to benefit the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its then-presidential candidate, leader, Bola Tinubu, in the just concluded polls.
This revelation, which was made through a press statement by former presidential media aide Mallam Garba Shehu, has ignited a firestorm of criticism, raising broader questions about how national interests were prioritized throughout Buhari’s tenure and shedding light on a range of pressing issues that plagued Nigeria during his time in office.
Former President Buhari’s reported confession regarding the withdrawal of oil subsidy also triggered a wave of public outrage. Nigerians from all walks of life are now questioning whether their ex-leader’s decisions had been guided by a genuine commitment to serving the nation’s interests or instead driven by political calculations.
Africa Today News, New York reports that the decision to remove the subsidy has been met with widespread backlash, as it led to an immediate increase in fuel prices, exacerbating the economic challenges faced by ordinary citizens.
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In a sharp reaction, he Spokesperson of the Coalition of Northern Groups, Abdul-Azeez Suleiman pointed out that; ‘The confession by the former President Buhari did not come as a surprise to us at the CNG. If anything, it is a confirmation of what we have been pointing out throughout the eight years of that citadel of poor governance, indifference, insensitivity and unprecedented plunder that was the Buhari presidency.
“We however disagree slightly with Buhari because everyone is aware by now that he never wanted Tinubu to win, and never worked for his victory. Instead, he supported policy directions and encouraged actions that clearly aimed to subvert it. The failure of the Buhari administration to announce the removal of the fuel subsidy was merely one out of the several indecisions, lack of courage and political will to tackle national issues around security, the economy and reintegration that characterized an administration wrapped in the crude cover of crass political opportunism and breathtaking ineptitude.
‘It is part of the burdens of the shared legacy of the Buhari administration in the bombs and bullets of insurgents, bandits, and the deteriorating standards of living as politicians and top government officials fleeced the poor of resources to develop, officials whose personal greed and ambitions remained tied to the continuation of decay and destruction of a nation and a people.
‘He treated as enemies those of us who tried to wake him up to the magnitude of the humanitarian disaster that criminal activities have created with about five million of our fellow citizens internally displaced with hundreds of thousands of orphans, hunger and malnourishment, previously unknown in our land becoming alarming features of existence.
‘Buhari’s confession is part of the unfortunate eight years under a leader who had spent a large part of his life asking all Nigerians to trust him to lead, but ended up getting the nation critically endangered by officials who failed to lead with justice and sensitivity to its plural nature and the limitations of our political process.
‘Buhari’s confession had only proved that the nation was not wrong when it insisted that his image and vision were not being served by the quality and competence of almost all of the people he assembled to work with him and see the nation through its most difficult period.
‘It is a vindication for those of us who were labelled enemies for insisting that the Buhari administration could do much better in managing the economy, in the all-important fight against corruption within the laws of the land, and in rebuilding a nation united around the values of justice and honest enterprise.
‘It is a vindication for those of us who reminded him daily that hunger was stalking millions of homes, inflation was making life difficult by the day; people were losing jobs, businesses closing down, and infrastructure was decaying. It is also a belated admission that in the last eight years, he led an administration that had acquired the reputation of being the worst in the history of our nation in terms of any capacity to generate confidence in achieving credible national goals.’
Africa Today News, New York reports that the confession from the President has continued to generate reactions among Nigerians.