Subsidy: ‘Tinubu takes 2 steps forward, 10 steps backwards’

Presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Dumebi Kachikwu, has said the government of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu did not start on a good note.

During an ARISE TV interview, the politician gave his take on the N8,000 palliative the government is planning to share to poor Nigerians to cushion the effects of subsidy removal.

He likened the president’s policy on subsidy removal to taking two steps forward and 10 steps backwards.

He said, “I don’t know how to understand a president who wanted the position all his life can afford to act in the manner that suggests he doesn’t have the sense of urgency towards solving problems.”

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“I personally expected that the president in the first two weeks would have to put his cabinet list out there for Nigerians to start vetting these people. I expected to hear and see a lot of policy statements in areas that are pressing.

“We saw the removal of subsidy in the petroleum. He campaigned on that. I, too, campaigned on that but I believe that Nigeria should not suffer for the failure of a few people, for the failure of government in its inability to manage subsidy.

“What we should have done was removing or suspending subsidy temporarily while putting in place stronger and more refined processes to ensure that people don’t abuse the subsidy.

“Let’s also look at the cash transfer they are about to do. We saw the last government do that. We saw how it failed. We saw how it was abused. And I expected that the government would come up with a much better plan.

“There are people who believe that the cash transfer will have a multiplier effect on the economy. But in the case of Nigeria, eight thousand naira will do absolutely nothing. And I don’t understand how the president could’ve bought into that.

“A president can only be as good as his advisers. I don’t know his advisers but I believe that they got it wrong. Tinubu takes two steps forward and ten steps backwards.”