LAGOS — Human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Femi Falana, has faulted President Bola Tinubu’s decision to remove fuel subsidy, insisting that no country in the world has completely abolished subsidies.
Speaking on Sunday Politics, a Channels Television programme, Falana argued that the Nigerian government was merely bowing to pressure from international financial institutions rather than acting in the interest of its citizens.
“There’s no way you can remove subsidy completely. No country in the entire world has abolished subsidies completely,” he said.
According to him, even advanced economies still protect critical sectors through subsidies. “The United States, the United Kingdom, France, and others subsidise electricity, agriculture, and many aspects of the lives of their people,” Falana noted.
He accused the Tinubu administration of adopting the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF)’s directive to scrap subsidies entirely.
“As a matter of fact, if I must say this, it was the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund that insisted the government must remove all subsidies,” he stated.
The fiery activist maintained that true governance requires cushioning citizens from economic shocks, not exposing them to more hardship.
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