On Tuesday, Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun, had a confidential meeting with former President Olusegun Obasanjo at his Penthouse residence in Abeokuta, located within the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library.
Abiodun made it to the former President’s residence at precisely 11:58 am and went straight into a private meeting with him.
Upon leaving the closed-door meeting, Abiodun remarked that the meeting had been private.
Gov. Abiodun said, ‘It is a private meeting. A son does not have to have any particular reason to come and see his father, so I have come to see our baba and it is a private meeting.’
Regarding the removal of fuel subsidy, Abiodun expressed his disappointment over Nigeria losing ₦4 trillion yearly to the subsidy regime. He firmly maintained that now is the most appropriate time to remove the subsidy.
Assuring Nigerians, the governor pledged that the government would channel the funds saved from the subsidy removal into effectively revitalizing the country’s economy.
‘We all know that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration started with a bang. On the 29th of May, he reeled out a few initiatives, one of the most laudable of those initiatives was his decision to remove subsidies on petroleum products.’
Read also: ‘Most Nigerian Leaders Have Nothing To Offer’ – Obasanjo
‘As controversial as that initiative has been, no one can deny the fact that it was a very welcome initiative. That was a subsidy that Nigeria could no longer afford, it was a subsidy that was not in the budget beyond June 2023.’
‘More importantly, it was costing Nigeria about N4trillion per annum, ₦4trillion that Nigeria did not have, that we have to borrow, that could be better expended to other uses that the common man can feel, so it was a very right decision.’
‘Of course, it was a decision that also came with a bit of pain, but like they say, there is no gain without some pain,’ Abiodun said.
He mentioned that his administration has introduced a range of palliatives to alleviate the impact of subsidy removal, specifically targeting civil servants, pensioners, and the residents of the state.
As a relief measure, the government sanctioned the distribution of N10,000 cash to every public servant and pensioner in the state.
Moreover, the government gave its approval for the payment of hazard allowance to all health and medical personnel in the state, and the commencement of these palliative measures is scheduled for July.
Regarding the palliatives initiative, Abiodun said, ‘What you saw us announced for implementation in Ogun state yesterday (Monday) are part of the initiatives that the Federal government has designed for implementation at the state level.’
‘What we have just done is to immediately begin that implementation because as soon the President announced deregulation, we sat down with members of our labour unions – TUC, NLC and JNC to discuss the different options that will be acceptable for all of us, that will allow us to fast track our own policies.’
‘We believe that these initiatives should immediately ameliorate the pain our people are feeling and I’m sure that you will see that other state governments are doing the same.’
He encouraged Nigerians to remain resilient amidst the surge in fuel prices, reiterating that the advantages of subsidy removal are more significant than the immediate difficulties.