The immediate past governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, has said the Federal Government is now paying more for fuel subsidies than before.
Jerrymusa.com reports that after presenting the lead paper at a capacity-building workshop on Monday in Maiduguri for political appointees on Enhancing Skills of Government Officials in Policy Implementation and Productive Human Resource Management, El-Rufai made this revelation in an interview with reporters.
“Many people are unaware that the federal government now provides fuel subsidies,” he remarked.
Nigerians Didn’t Want the Subsidy Gone
El-Rufai praised the policy and said, “It’s the right one.” I have always been in favour of eliminating the fuel subsidy, but while the policy was being implemented, the government discovered that the subsidy needed to be reinstated, and as a result, it is currently paying even more for the subsidy than it did previously.”
“You begin putting a policy into effect because you are positive it is the right one, but as you work through it, you come across bottlenecks, and you modify.
“Pragmatism is the important term in leadership, in my opinion. You ought to be realistic. Thus, when a policy is created and put into practice, it doesn’t appear to be effective. You ought to have the humility to acknowledge when something isn’t working and make the necessary changes.
“It is premature to pass judgement on the current administration.”
He noted that the Tinubu government had just been in place for nine months and that leadership was still a work in progress.
The former governor of Kaduna emphasised this further, saying, “You cannot judge someone who has four years in just nine months. Leadership is a continuous thing.”
But he urged Nigerians to ask God to guide their leaders through prayer.
On the day of his inauguration, Tinubu said fuel subsidies in the country was gone.
The fuel subsidy has to end because the nation cannot continue it, the president said when outlining the grounds for its termination.
He continued by saying that, among other things, the trillions of naira spent each year to maintain the subsidy were intended to improve national security, housing, schools, the healthcare and transportation industries, and other sectors.
The former governor of Kaduna, in the meantime, criticised President Bola Tinubu’s administration for its perceived lack of leadership and accused them of making snap decisions.