Arise Television anchor, Rufai Oseni, has challenged the Executive Chairman of the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS), Adedeji, to provide a balanced assessment of the economic impact of President Bola Tinubu’s fuel subsidy removal.
Adedeji, while appearing on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics, had defended the removal of the petrol subsidy, saying the policy had prevented a much larger financial burden on the country.
According to him, the subsidy would have cost the government about N53 trillion, while the naira could have depreciated to as much as N3,500 to the dollar without the reforms introduced by the Tinubu administration.
He also claimed that monthly allocations to state governments had increased by 530 per cent, rising from about N700 billion to N4.5 trillion.
Reacting in a post on X on Monday, Oseni questioned whether the NRS chairman’s assessment also accounted for the financial impact of inflation on Nigerians.
“If the NRS chief says subsidy would have been over N50 trillion, can he also give us the revenue Nigerians lost to inflation? To balance the argument,” Oseni wrote.
His comments come amid renewed debate over the economic consequences of the Tinubu administration’s reforms, particularly the removal of fuel subsidies and the unification of the foreign exchange market.
Adedeji had previously attracted criticism following remarks in which he claimed that President Tinubu trekked to the office and ate only once a day, comments that sparked reactions across social media.
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