Bad Governance Undermined Fuel Subsidy Removal Benefits, Not the Policy – Lamido

One of the remaining founding fathers of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Sule Lamido, has blamed bad governance and a lack of the rule of law for undermining the benefits of fuel subsidy removal and creating unnecessary hardship for Nigerians.

Alhaji Sule Lamido made these remarks while answering questions from newsmen at his residence in Dutse, the capital of Jigawa State.

He said the fuel subsidy removal policy is not a bad policy; rather, it has many advantages in promoting economic growth, public welfare, and effective service delivery.

Sule Lamido, a former two-term governor of Jigawa State, maintained that effective and strategic implementation of the policy could have minimized and cushioned the adverse effects of the removal on citizens.

He added that the judicious use of the gains from the subsidy could also have addressed the unnecessary hardship and paved the way for accelerated economic growth and public betterment.

“The hardship is not because of the subsidy removal. Lack of the rule of law is what killed the benefits of fuel subsidy removal and created the current situation in Nigeria,” Sule Lamido said.

He added that the gains from the subsidy removal are not benefiting the common man; rather, they have ended up in the hands of a few individuals at the expense of the collective national interest.

According to him, if the subsidy had been removed during the tenure of former President Goodluck Jonathan of the PDP, the story could have been different, and Nigerians could have been enjoying its full benefits.

He described the PDP as a political party built on the principle of the rule of law, saying it was guided by that principle and remains the only answer to Nigeria’s problems, as there is  on alternative to the rule of law for any society dreaming of peace and progress.

Alhaji Sule Lamido, however, described the political rivalry among the African Democratic Congress (ADC), the National Democratic Congress (NDC), and the All Progressives Congress (APC) as a family civil war that, as a PDP man, he need not comment on.

Lamido then called on Nigerians and the people of Jigawa State to look back at the PDP’s record of performance compared with that of the APC and to make a wise decision by voting for PDP candidates at all levels in the upcoming 2027 election for a better Nigeria.