Ojo: Atiku’s Subsidy Reversal Pledge a Political Statement Taken Too Far

A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress and Managing Director of Federal Housing Authority, Hon. Oyetunde Ojo, in this interview, bares his mind on the governance style of President Bola Tinubu and the strides currently being recorded  under the Renewed Hope Agenda in the housing sector. He also chides the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, Atiku Abubakar, for his recent political statement about reversal of fuel subsidy removal if he emerges victorious during the January,  2027 presidential poll. Raheem Akingbolu brings excerpts.

It’s been over three years since President Bola Tinubu assumed office. How can you describe his governance style?

From any angle one chooses to look at it, President Tinubu has demonstrated capacity and competence. In the last three years, the president has successfully laid strong economic and infrastructural foundations for Nigeria.

Without mincing words, I would say the President has done excellently well, especially in the area of infrastructure, economic management, and security matters.

Nigerians often fail to look at where we were coming from. In the area of infrastructural development, there is hardly any part of the country that has not experienced new road construction and other developmental projects. Also, perhaps because of the background of President Tinubu as a financial expert, he has created a good economic blueprint for Nigeria.

As a follow-up, what’s your take on the administration’s performance in the area of security? Don’t you think things are getting worse?

No, things are not getting worse, except that some narratives are being projected by political pessimists who don’t want any good news about the administration.  For instance, despite the coordinated efforts that led to the recent rescue of school children and teachers in Oyo State, some people still went out with propaganda to undermine the federal government. Even when one of the men on the rescue mission was killed, some people still chose to politicize it and tagged it a ‘Federal Government arrangee kidnap’. I almost shed tears hearing such a statement.

In fact, to appreciate President Tinubu’s contribution to security, we may need to take a trip back to a few years ago. During that period, there were a series of bombings in the Federal Capital Territory, including the one that happened near the Police Headquarters. Today, we must give credit to the Nigerian Army and the coordination between the Army and the Air Force, down to other security networks in the country.

Unfortunately, today, some incidents are exaggerated by the naysayers who ordinarily don’t expect anything good from this administration. When soldiers are killed, social media amplifies it, but when terrorists are neutralized, nobody talks about it. We should stop celebrating negativity.

I am not saying there are no security challenges, but  I can tell you that many reports circulating are not accurate. There are improvements, even if challenges still exist. On security, there are obviously some things that one cannot comment on in order not to undermine the efforts of Mr. President and the service chiefs but all I can say is that a lot is being done to address the issue, both the natural and those that many of us know are politically motivated to make the Tinubu administration unpopular.

The administration’s economic policies have been described in some quarters as retrogressive. What is your take?

Anybody who promotes the argument that the Tinubu administration’s economic policies are poor is definitely saying so out of ignorance. Perhaps for political reasons, people are being sentimental and allowing their emotions to direct their thoughts. From the first day in office, the president’s economic policies have been focused on structural reforms to reset Nigeria’s economy. We will all recall that he took the bull the horns the very first day he took over by removing the subsidy. Interestingly, almost all those who contested with him promised to do the same during their campaigns because a secondary school student of Economics knew then that Nigeria was sitting on gunpowder. Sadly, the same set of people are now criticizing the same thing they campaigned against because they lost the election.

Aside from removing fuel subsidies, he has unified exchange rates and reduced government deficits. These policies aim to improve long-term growth, but of course, the policies came with initial hitches, but it has long term advantages. This policy frees up public funds for infrastructure and other developments.

The Central Bank removed multiple overlapping exchange rate systems to create a single, unified market. This aimed to attract foreign investment, though it initially caused a steep drop in the value of the Naira, but now we are getting over it.

But the policies are believed to make life difficult for the masses. It got to the peak recently when former Vice President and Presidential candidate of the ADC, Atiku Abubakar vowed to reverse the subsidy removal if elected President in 2027.

Before I react to Alhaji Atiku’s promise, let me state that Nigerians want good economic growth, improved infrastructure, and good governance, but we don’t want to make any sacrifice. Obviously, we want to make an omelette without breaking some eggs. It is not possible.

As we speak the dollar has remained stable for months, ths but nobody is talking about it. Why do we focus only on negative news?

The dollar is a major global currency, and the United States protects it aggressively. Despite this, Nigeria’s economy is gradually improving. We should celebrate progress where it exists.

Back to what I can call ‘Atikunomics development projection’, I will conclude that Atiku has simply made a political statement to gain traction. Atiku is human, and there is possibly no way he would not sound desperate. He has contested and failed several times. Now, age is no more at his advantage, and he sees the 2027 general elections as his last chance. He wants to explore every means if it means deceiving Nigerians. He doesn’t care what becomes the consequence of the statement. The Turaki Adamawa wants power by all means; either by hook or by crook. It’s sad that a supposed elder statesman can be that desperate and undermine the fact that power belongs to God as established in the Holy Quran and Bible. 

Again, I will pardon Atiku if his submission was based on ignorance because as at the last time I checked, he was neither an economist nor a finance expert, but I will definitely not spare his economic advisers for not being patriotic enough to educate Atiku on what could consolidate the current administration’s economic achievement.

That said, let me state that removal of subsidy is a subject that cuts deep into the social and economic fabric of Nigeria and, in fact, the survival of an average Nigerian. Therefore, using the issue of subsidy to play politics at this point is economically hitting Nigerians below the belt. The point is that an average Nigerian believes that the subsidy regime was unsustainable. That is a consensus that is no brainer on its own. Unfortunately, previous administrations lacked the political will to hold the bull by the horns until Asiwaju Tinubu came on board.

So, you assume it was the best way to go when Tinubu removed it?*

Of course. We shouldn’t forget in a hurry that both Atiku and Mr. Peter Obi also promised prior to the 2023 election that fuel subsidies would go. The conversation that Nigerians should be having right now is how subsidy removal will benefit them more than it is doing right now. And not its inherent but cheap politicization.

And what are the benefits?

As a country whose foreign exchange earnings come mainly from crude oil, spending the amount of money we were spending to keep the subsidy regime going was just impossible to sustain. For about eight years under late President Muhammadu Buhari, the nation spent almost N30 billion on fuel subsidies. How much would be left for infrastructure and other governmental responsibilities?

One major benefit of subsidy was freeing scarce foreign exchange earnings, which also is helping in strengthening the naira against the dollar. There is also the complete elimination of rent seeking and the naked fraud that is glaringly associated with fuel subsidy. This has to do with the criminal disparity between what some marketers imported in and what they submitted as subsidy claims.

Besides, subsidy removal is clear: more money for development. Instead of committing huge resources to subsidising fuel, the government can invest more in roads, electricity, healthcare, education, and other things that directly affect our daily lives. We are seeing that already across the six geo-political zones of Nigeria.

It also means less waste and abuse. The old subsidy system created room for inflated consumption figures, smuggling, and leakages we couldn’t account for in the past. Removing it closes much of that window and gives us a better chance of ensuring that public resources actually serve the public.

Then, there is local refining and investment. A market-driven system encourages investors to refine fuel locally and compete, rather than relying on the government to keep prices artificially low.

So, what happens if it’s reversed?

While it is politically expedient to promise to restore fuel subsidy, the negative implications can only be imagined. The nation will go back to that regime of struggling to raise forex to buy (import) expensive refined products to be sold at cheaper rates at home. The fallout of this is that the bulk of the nation’s foreign exchange would be going into sustaining the fuel subsidy regime. I think no Nigerian wants to go back to this.

There will also be a drastic reduction in revenue accruable to governments at all levels since what comes into the federation account would have been drastically affected,albeit negatively, by the cost of keeping the subsidy regime going.

I remember a former Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, once revealed in an interview that there was no minister who did not say subsidy was killing Nigeria while she was in government. According to her, the Muhammad Buhari administration tried a different approach to cushion the effect, but none worked. She also stated that Nigeria was then subsidizing the whole West African region. According to her, the money Nigeria was spending on subsidy was the money meant for roads, education and health.

Also, in a related development, Emir of Kano, Alhaji Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, said prior to the 2023 election that any candidate who campaigned that he would not remove subsidy must be disregarded by Nigerians. He simply concluded that such a politician was merely deceiving the people.

 Can you please tell Nigerians your achievement in the Federal Housing Authority (FHA)?

It may be difficult for me to speak as an individual but rather as a team leader. Succinctly speaking and in line with the Tinubu administration to address challenges related to housing deficit across Nigeria, the FHA is working round the clock to provide solutions and create a seamless platform for Nigerians to own a house, irrespective of class geographical location.

As a revenue-generating agency, I have also ensured that since  I assumed office, my remittance has increased drastically. For instance, within half of this year alone, we have paid N3 billion naira into the consolidated revenue account

 In the area of provision of shelters for Nigerians, we have gone beyond the FCT. We have been mandated to acquire land in 28 states of the federation for housing development and the commencement of Renewed Hope Estates in 17 states in the first phase. Also, several inherited housing projects in Abuja and Ibadan have been completed.

Another achievement is that the Authority has digitalised its property records, which is now secured on the Galaxy Backbone platform, and we are working towards full automation of our operations to ensure faster and more seamless service delivery.