Former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir David Lawal, has claimed that Nigeria collapsed immediately after President Bola Tinubu announced the removal of the petrol subsidy.
During a discussion on Trust TV’s Daily Politics, Lawal criticized the decision, describing it as a major error given that Tinubu did not have a cabinet in place to manage the consequences.
According to Lawal, the absence of a minister of planning, a minister of finance, and the Federal Executive Council left the country unprepared for the fallout from such a significant policy shift.
“I can only repeat what I said before. I’ve spoken on this before. First of all, I did say one time you came into government on the day you were inaugurated. After swearing in you embark on the first major policies that are very impactful on the lives of the society. It is like a cowboy, or macho man removing subsidy. At that time, he didn’t have a minister of planning, that should plan the outcome, and the consequences to take care of. You don’t have a minister of finance who will calculate the impact of this society. You did not even have the federal executive council that will approve that, you have nothing. As at that time, nobody to advise, nobody to break out ‘what ifs,’” Lawal stated.
Lawal argued that this decision caused transportation costs to soar, which in turn affected the entire economy. “So immediately after that inauguration, Nigeria collapsed. It is like a balloon. Nigeria fell down. It deflated completely. Immediately transportation (fare) tripled,” he noted.
Sharing his personal experience as a farmer, Lawal highlighted the immediate economic impact. “That week! I used to buy animal feed for my cows from Zaria, I used to pay ₦270,000 per truck. Immediately that week, I couldn’t buy anymore, because transportation alone was going to cost me ₦1 million. I couldn’t afford it because the cost of fuel just jumped up. Everything. Last week I bought some equipment for my farm. I wanted to transport it from Kano, they were asking me to pay ₦3 million to transport three tractors and only to be put in a trailer. One trailer carrying three tractors! Everything has gone up. So that policy alone crashed everything,” he explained.
Lawal’s comments reflect the widespread economic turmoil that followed the subsidy removal, highlighting the significant challenges facing the Tinubu administration in managing the country’s economy.
