Governor of Edo State Godwin Obaseki has come under fire from the federal government for disparaging President Bola Tinubu’s economic strategy.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday in Benin, Obaseki claimed that Tinubu’s administration’s elimination of the fuel subsidy and changes to the foreign exchange system had made life more difficult for Nigerians.
“Supply is no longer an issue, and the exchange rate is now more balanced. As a result, a significant portion of the weight of these policies will fall on the country’s weakest and most vulnerable citizens.
“I’m amazed that those who ran nationwide campaigns promising to cut subsidies had no concrete proposals for what to do in their place. They are unsure of how to help individuals who would suffer as a result of the elimination of subsidies.
In a statement on Thursday, the minister of information and national orientation, Mohammed Idris, responded to the governor’s statement by saying that Obaseki’s remarks about the Federal Government’s decisions on fuel subsidies and foreign exchange market reforms ignored the bigger picture of the economy.
“While it is typical for leaders to hold opposing viewpoints, it is important to ground conversation in reality and to focus on measurable outcomes.
“It is well known that Nigerians, State Governors of all political stripes, international organizations like the World Bank and IMF, and various economic experts have consistently argued for the elimination of fuel subsidies due to the fiscal distortions and burden they have caused on the economy.
This load includes many months in which the NNPC made no additions to the Federation account, which resulted in states and local governments receiving less money from FAAC due to the payment of gasoline subsidies, which the national oil firm routinely charged to the Federation account.
“To put things in perspective, Edo State has greatly profited from the subsidy reduction under Governor Obaseki’s leadership, as seen by the more than doubling of the FAAC allocation to Edo State between June and July 2023 compared to what it had previously gotten prior to the elimination of fuel subsidies.
“Our recommendation is to. The emphasis should be on how Governor Obaseki would use the resources at his disposal to lead effective projects that actually elevate the people of Edo State rather than diving into tales that don’t give the whole picture.
“We still don’t know what might have prompted Governor Obaseki to level such flagrantly false claims against the Federal Government,” the statement reads.
