FG slams Governor Obaseki for attacking Tinubu’s Economic Policy

Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki has come under fire from the federal government for his criticism of President Bola Tinubu’s economic strategy.

Obaseki told reporters in Benin on Thursday that Nigerians’ hardships had been exacerbated by Tinubu’s administration’s decision to end gasoline subsidies and overhaul the country’s foreign exchange system.

The subsidy has ended, and the exchange rate is becoming more stable. The most helpless and defenceless members of society would end up bearing the brunt of these policies.

I find it shocking that those who ran for office across the country promising to end subsidies have offered no details about their post-subsidy strategy. They are at a loss as to how to help individuals who may be negatively impacted by the elimination of subsidies.

In a statement released on Thursday, Minister of Information and National Orientation Mohammed Idris responded to Obaseki’s remarks by saying that he failed to take into account the big picture when discussing the APC-led Federal Government’s decisions on fuel subsidy and foreign exchange market reforms.

While it’s natural for leaders to have different points of view, it’s important to ground discussions in facts and centre criticism on actual outcomes.

Because of the fiscal distortions and burden it has placed on the economy, the removal of fuel subsidy has been consistently advocated for by Nigerians, State Governors across party lines, and global institutions like the World Bank and IMF, as well as various economic experts.

Because the national oil firm routinely deducted payments for gasoline subsidy from the Federation account, “this burden includes many months of zero accretion to the Federation account by the NNPC,” leaving state and local governments with less money from FAAC.

Edo State, led by Governor Obaseki, has reaped substantial benefits from the subsidy elimination, as evidenced by a June–July 2023 FAAC allocation that is significantly more than what the state received before the subsidy was eliminated.

What do we recommend? Focusing on how Governor Obaseki will use available resources to generate significant projects that actually elevate the people of Edo State is more important than delving into storylines that do not present the full picture.

What might have prompted Governor Obaseki to make such obviously false claims against the Federal Government remains a mystery to us.