By Abubakar Yunusa ABUJA
“Let me ask you: what do you think we are leaving our children behind (with)? A mountain of debt. Every generation wants to leave a legacy so that our children and grandchildren will be praying for us and ask God for mercy on us, not cursing us.
“You leave them with a mountain of debt, you have not educated them, money that will should put into their education, into their healthcare, even assuming this fuel subsidy is genuine, we have taking that money to give ourselves cheap petrol. We are borrowing to enjoy cheap petrol so that our children will oay that debt.
“We see the problem and we are going to continue. I’m sorry for the next president who comes in June and says I’m removing fuel subsidy on day one. I don’t know what kind of political stability you’ll have,” Sanusi stated.
At the event on Saturday, President Muhammadu Buhari was represented by the Minister of State, Industry, Trade and Investment, Maryam Katagum.
Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote; and the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Bola Tinubu; were also present as well as Governors Nasir El-Rufai (Kaduna), Abubakar Bagudu (Kebbi), and Abubakar Badaru (Jigawa).
The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, had said the Federal Government projected to spend N6.7 trillion on petrol subsidy payments in 2023.
However, Buhari last Friday, while presenting a N20.51 trillion 2023 budget proposal to the National Assembly, pushed for the removal of fuel subsidy in 2023, saying that the policy is not sustainable considering current economic realities.
The exact volume of Nigeria’s daily consumption of petrol and rising subsidy payment have been subjects of controversy of late with the Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Hammed Ali, faulting NNPC’s official figure of recent.
Similarly, El-Rufai last Thursday said the NNPC has no business being in the oil sector and should be privatised with immediate effect
