A former aide to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan and public commentator, Reno Omokri, stated on Wednesday that President Bola Tinubu has performed significantly better than the 2023 Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, would have.
Omokri, during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today, highlighted that Tinubu’s removal of the fuel subsidy was a move Obi had previously mentioned he would implement if elected in 2023.
He said, “I still hold that view that the President is by far better than anything Peter Obi would have done. We can go into specifics. What Peter Obi was talking about, that the President mishandled was fuel subsidy and Peter Obi was being clever by half because after that interview, I brought out another interview that he had given — incidentally, that interview was on Channels — where he told the public that if he was elected as President, fuel subsidy would go immediately.
“So, what did the President do? The President took out the fuel subsidy on day one, immediately. So, would he (Obi) have done it differently?”
Omokri also emphasized that Tinubu’s decision received praise from globally renowned financial institutions.
“And if you look at the World Bank, if you look at the IMF, these guys have said what the President did was right. It brought some pain but it was the necessary decision. But let’s assume that the World Bank and IMF maybe they are neocolonialists, so let’s take them aside.
“What about Moody’s, what about Fitch? In the whole world, Fitch is the number one rating agency and Fitch has upgraded Nigeria to a stable B-positive because it said the reforms by the Bola Tinubu administration are working, especially the removal of the subsidy and the floatation of the naira.
“They did that last year, I think that was on December 17, and then so afterward, Moody’s followed and they upgraded Nigeria,” he added.
He highlighted that Tinubu’s reforms, particularly the removal of the fuel subsidy and the floatation of the naira, are yielding results.
“This gentleman met a debt profile for Nigeria of $108 billion. Right now, as I speak with you, our debt is now $94 billion, so $14 billion reduction in our debt. And it is not just with the Federal Government; almost all states have reduced their debt load. Why? Because the federal allocation to the states has increased, in some cases doubled, in some cases tripled.
“So, because of the removal of the fuel subsidy, we are seeing tangible actions. So, I completely disagree with Peter Obi.”
Omokri argued that Tinubu’s performance should encourage widespread support for his administration.
“I think it’s wrong for anybody not to support him because Nigeria is our goal,” he stated.
He also criticized Obi’s tenure as governor of Anambra, claiming, “Peter Obi, as governor of Anambra, is the only governor in the last 26 years that increased poverty in Anambra. The two governors before him did not increase poverty; the governor after him did not increase poverty, but Peter Obi increased poverty. So, he does not have the moral authority to talk,” Omokri concluded.
‘Fuel Subsidy Is Gone’
President Tinubu announced the removal of the fuel subsidy during his inaugural speech on May 29, 2023.
He stated that the 2023 budget did not allocate funds for fuel subsidies, making the payment unsustainable.
“The fuel subsidy is gone,” Tinubu declared at Eagle Square after being sworn in as Nigeria’s 16th President.
However, Obi criticized the President’s approach, arguing that the subsidy was removed without adequate measures to mitigate its impact on citizens.
He said, “Recall that even when Jonathan’s government wanted to remove it they came up with various relieving policies like Sure-P and others. If you read my manifesto, you will see clearly how I planned to remove subsidies.
“I will govern with the people and show them statistically and empirically what we are going to save, and what we are going to do using the savings to better the suffering masses. The problem in Nigeria is that often, governments tell the masses to suffer and sacrifice for a better future; but in the future, things get worse,” Obi added.