By Abubakar Yunusa
Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, former minister of state for education, says former President Muhammadu Buhari retained the petrol subsidy so Nigerians will not die.
During an interview on Arise TV on Monday, Nwajiuba said the former president made significant contributions to Nigeria’s development, adding that data from his eight-year tenure reflects his efforts.
“All the figures from every known publication in the eight years are clear. This is an economy that recovered from recession twice. This is an economy that ran into COVID. This is an economy that he did exceedingly well in economic terms,” the ex-minister said.
“We held the dollar at the exchange rate… we held it at the time he left, at less than N500. He held subsidy so that Nigerians won’t die.
“The number of deaths in the last two years alone has exceeded the number that voted. I mean, just from tankers falling and people being burnt, people going for Christmas gifts, people going to look for food, and they die from it.
“He knew, and he granted an interview to BBC why he wanted to defend Nigerians ahead of others.”
Nwajiuba also referenced data from the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), which reported that 183 companies had shut down in the last two years — a situation he says contrasts with the relative stability during Buhari’s time in office.
The former minister said Buhari’s administration recorded progress in key sectors such as mining, non-oil exports, and oil production.
“He did this work, and the numbers are there to show,” he said.
“Everything we did in mining, the improvements in non-oil exports, improvements in oil exports, the idea behind condensates, everything that we did in government, are all articulated.”
Nwajiuba, however, acknowledged that although Buhari was only human and did not possess all-encompassing knowledge, his administration achieved considerable success.
On July 13, 2025, Buhari died in a clinic in London, United Kingdom, at the age of 82.
Buhari served first as military head of state from 1983 to 1985, before returning as an elected president in 2015, and was re-elected in 2019.
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