An All Progressives Congress chieftain in Osun State, Olatunbosun Oyintiloye, has described President Bola Tinubu’s decision to remove fuel subsidy as a strategic economic reform capable of placing Nigeria on the path to sustainable growth and recovery.
Oyintiloye, a former member of the Osun State House of Assembly, also cautioned politicians seeking elective positions in the 2027 general elections against what he described as deliberate misrepresentation of the facts surrounding the subsidy removal.
He said Nigerians had come to understand the need for the policy following Tinubu’s decision to end the subsidy regime, which he said had placed an unsustainable financial burden on the country.
Oyintiloye made the remarks in a statement obtained in Osogbo on Sunday, stressing that Nigeria could no longer afford to spend trillions of naira subsidising petrol consumption while facing fiscal challenges and significant development gaps.
According to him, the reform should not be judged solely by the immediate rise in petrol prices but considered in the context of efforts to address a long-standing structural imbalance in the economy.
“The decision was difficult, but Nigeria needed the courage to confront a system that had become increasingly expensive to sustain. We cannot continue to spend trillions of naira on subsidy while critical sectors of the economy remain underfunded.
The resources must be redirected towards development and productive investment, and that was what President Tinubu did. We are now seeing the gains,” he said.
The APC chieftain identified lower government expenditure pressures, improved budgetary discipline and the release of funds for development as some of the benefits of subsidy removal.
He added that the policy had also created stronger incentives for investment in local refining and the downstream petroleum industry.
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Oyintiloye pointed to the 650,000-barrel-per-day Dangote Refinery as a major development in the country’s efforts to increase domestic refining capacity and reduce reliance on imported petroleum products.
However, he acknowledged that the reform had brought considerable short-term difficulties for Nigerians, especially through increased transportation expenses and the rising cost of living.
“We acknowledge the hardship Nigerians are experiencing, but returning to the old system without addressing its fundamental problems would only postpone the crisis. The answer is to ensure that the resources freed from subsidy are converted into tangible benefits for the people, and the Tinubu administration has been doing that,” he said.
He called on the Federal Government to sustain investment in critical sectors, including infrastructure, mass transportation, healthcare, education, agriculture, social protection and initiatives capable of creating jobs.
Oyintiloye maintained that the success of the subsidy reform should ultimately be determined by whether it improves Nigeria’s productive capacity and the welfare of its citizens.
“Nigeria must move from subsidising consumption to investing in production, creating opportunities and building an economy capable of delivering sustainable prosperity,” he said.