Former Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Solomon Dalung, has strongly criticised President Bola Tinubu’s decision to remove fuel subsidy, describing it as ill-timed, poorly thought out, and taken without proper consultation.
Dalung made the remarks during an interview on Channels Television on Thursday, where he faulted the Federal Government’s justification for the policy, arguing that it exposed what he described as a “poverty of ideas and knowledge” within the administration.
According to him, the claim that subsidy removal was the only viable option reflected vested interests rather than sound policy thinking.
“The admission that subsidy removal was the only option is a demonstration of poverty of ideas and knowledge because in life, there are too many alternatives. For them to single out this issue defines the vested interest in the withdrawal of fuel subsidy,” Dalung said.
The former minister argued that the problem facing Nigeria was not the existence of fuel subsidy but the manner in which it had been managed over the years. He noted that investigations by the National Assembly had already exposed massive fraud within the subsidy regime, with several companies indicted.
“I don’t see it as something that was necessary at that point in time. If we know as a fact that the subsidy regime has been investigated by the National Assembly and fraud was established, then the problem is not the subsidy itself but its management,” he stated.
Dalung accused the Federal Government of failing to prosecute those allegedly responsible for years of subsidy-related fraud, insisting that the sudden announcement of subsidy removal amounted to tacit approval of past abuses.
“This government is not interested in holding those who have defrauded this country for many years accountable but chose to make a sweeping statement, ‘subsidy has been withdrawn’. For me, it is an endorsement of fraud,” he said.
While acknowledging that the policy has already been implemented, Dalung maintained that the process revealed a lack of understanding of governance and Nigeria’s complex political structure.
“Granted, it has been done, but it was done in a manner that demonstrated that the President, at that time, did not understand the working of government and the complex nature of the country called Nigeria,” he added.
He further criticised the timing of the decision, noting that it was announced before the full formation of government and without adequate institutional input.
“He needed consultation. As at the time he made that statement, there was no government. It was only the President and the Vice President that had been sworn in, and that wasn’t government,” Dalung said.
According to him, major economic decisions such as fuel subsidy removal should involve a properly constituted cabinet, advisers, and policy makers.
“A government means a cabinet, advisers, and policy makers taking a decision like that,” he concluded.
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