Troubles: How Tinubu was wrong to float the naira and remove fuel subsidies

Kalu Aja, a financial analyst and educationist, said Nigeria would have been completely bankrupt if President Bola Tinubu had decided not to float the naira and scrap fuel subsidies.

Aja explained that the floating of the naira and the removal of the Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) subsidy were not optional decisions as the country had no choice.

However, in a message posted on his X account on Friday, the financial expert said Tinubu had mismanaged the implementation of the palliatives.

He pointed out that it took the Nigerian government a year to understand that food had to be imported and even to come up with a plan, adding that CNG buses remained elusive.

According to him, if Tinubu had announced a total cancellation of all duties and taxes on food and introduced new public transport options, the pain caused by these policies would have been more bearable.

Aja wrote: “Floating the naira was not a decision; Nigeria had no choice. Removing PMS subsidies was not a decision; Nigeria had no choice.

“A decision could have meant that Nigeria could have decided NOT to float the naira and NOT to remove subsidies; both decisions would have completely ruined the nation, like queuing up to buy bread with vouchers.

“Tinubu’s mistake was in the implementation of the palliatives. Recall that at one point, the proposed palliative cost N8,000.

“It took the FGN a year to understand that it needed to import food and even to come up with a plan! As we speak, CNG buses are still a mirage.

“If the president had announced a total removal of all duties and taxes on food and introduced new public transport options, the pain would have been bearable. This is important.

“All these calls to ‘reverse policy’ ignore the fact that we have spent more on PMS subsidies than on health, education and infrastructure over the years; this is not sustainable.”

Click to sign up to receive FREE news updates, breaking news and hottest information every day

Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users