Former Ogun State Governor, Olusegun Osoba, has explained why he categorizes President Bola Tinubu as a hero for removing the subsidy on petroleum.
While speaking on Arise TV’s Morning Show on Wednesday, Osoba when asked by the program presenter, Rufai Oseni, if he sees former president Goodluck Jonathan as a hero after he had previously removed the subsidy on petroleum before its reversal.
“The first question I asked you, you called President Tinubu a hero for removing subsidy. Would you call good luck Jonathan the hero for removing subsidy? And why is it that when President Jonathan removed subsidy, your party then kicked against him,” Rufai asked.
Why not providing a definitive answer, Osoba said,”At that time, the subsidy was minimal, and what we were saying then was that they should tackle the corruption.
“The corruption continued and became bigger and bigger, involving round tripping.
“So the corruption in the subsidy became higher than before… I mean, of course, I respect Jonathan; he is a gentleman president. I respect him,” he stated.
On Monday 29 May, in his inaugural speech, President Bola Tinubu said Nigeria’s fuel subsidies would be scrapped, citing budgetary concerns.
“Fuel subsidy is gone,” he told a packed crowd in the capital, Abuja.
Recall that Jonathan had in January 2012 announced the removal of petrol subsidy and adjusted the pump price of petrol from N65 per litre to N141.
