Account for subsidy savings, APM tells Tinubu

By Luminous Jannamike

ABUJA — The Allied People’s Movement (APM) on Thursday challenged the President Bola Tinubu administration to publicly account for the trillions of naira realised from the removal of fuel subsidy, saying the policy should be judged by its impact on Nigerians’ lives rather than by official pronouncements.

According to the party, more than three years after the subsidy was removed, many Nigerians are yet to see the promised benefits. Instead, it said, households are grappling with soaring living costs, deepening poverty and failing public services despite repeated assurances that the savings, which it put at more than N20 trillion, would be invested in programmes to improve citizens’ welfare.

The demand was contained in a statement by the APM’s National Publicity Secretary, Hon. Abubakar Yusuf, who accused the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led Federal Government of failing to provide a transparent account of the proceeds generated from the removal of fuel subsidy since May 2023.

The APM called on the Federal Government to publish a comprehensive and independently verifiable assessment of the subsidy removal policy, detailing the total amount realised since May 2023, the projects funded with the money, their locations, the beneficiaries and the measurable outcomes achieved.

“The true measure of any economic reform is not the volume of official pronouncements but its tangible impact on the lives of the people,” the party declared.

It maintained that the demand had become necessary because of worsening economic hardship, citing rising poverty, soaring living costs, deteriorating public services, and Nigeria’s widening infrastructure deficit, despite what it described as huge revenues generated by the policy.

The statement recalled that President Tinubu’s declaration on 29 May 2023 that ‘subsidy is gone ‘ immediately sent petrol prices soaring from below ₦200 to more than ₦1,500 per litre, triggering increases in transport fares, food prices, school fees, medical bills, electricity costs, house rents and the prices of everyday goods and services.

“For over three years, Nigerians have endured unprecedented hardship following President Tinubu’s May 29, 2023 declaration that ‘subsidy is gone’,” Yusuf said.

The APM also alleged that reports of corruption and diversion of funds generated from the subsidy removal had deepened public concern, accusing government officials of issuing conflicting figures while making what it described as fictitious claims of achievement.

Yusuf further criticised the federal government, saying: “The vague claims by the APC government that the proceeds are being invested in critical sectors without real figures and specific projects or programmes are completely unacceptable and cannot substitute for transparency and accountability.”

It also argued that hunger had become a national emergency, with millions of families struggling to put food on the table, businesses buckling under rising operating costs and workers watching their purchasing power steadily erode amid worsening poverty and unemployment.

The party cited estimates putting Nigeria’s infrastructure deficit at about $2.3 trillion, noting that experts believe the country would need to invest roughly $100 billion annually over the next 30 years to bridge the gap.

While stressing that it was not opposed to reforms capable of driving national development, the APM insisted that economic policies should ultimately be judged by the difference they make in people’s daily lives rather than by government rhetoric.

It urged the Federal Government to publicly disclose the total subsidy savings since May 2023, account for every expenditure made from the funds, identify the beneficiaries of all interventions and explain the measurable outcomes achieved.

“The APC government cannot continue to celebrate figures on paper while millions of citizens can no longer afford decent meals, healthcare, transportation or quality education,” the statement added.

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