One of the aides to the President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Bayo Onanuga, has lamented that the Federal Government under ex-President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), owed the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited N2.4 trillion for past subsidies.
Onanuga disclosed this in a statement via his Facebook page on Friday, explaining and justifying the fuel subsidy removal.
He wrote, “The Federal Government which already commits 96 per cent of its revenue in servicing debt is not in any position to continue selling subsidised fuel, most of which is smuggled across our borders for criminal and obscenely unpatriotic profit.
“Subsidy of fuel is no longer unsustainable as the FG is virtually broke. Apart from its N77 trillion debt, it also owes the NNPC Limited about N2.4 trillion for past subsidies.”
Onanuga’s lamentation is coming days after Tinubu said he should not be pitied, as he asked for the job and was aware of the issues confronting the country before vying to be Presidency.
Recall that, Tinubu, during his inaugural speech on May 29, said “subsidy is gone”. This pronouncement triggered panic-buying of petroleum products across the country as citizens rushed to buy fuel while oil marketers suddenly increased pump price.
