Presidency: Tinubu Never Authorised Leaked Fiscal Policy Document, No N5.4tn Subsidy Spending

*Atiku urges president to come clean on petrol underpayments 

*APC govt cesspit of corruption, deceit, says PDP

Chuks Okocha and Olawale Ajimotokan in Abuja

The presidency yesterday urged the public to disregard two documents on fiscal policy currently in circulation, saying they were not authorised by the federal government.
The documents in reference are: “Inflation Reduction and Price Stability” and a 65-page draft material with the title: “Accelerated Stabilisation and Advancement Plan”. They both contained suggestions on how to improve the Nigerian economy.
The Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, in a statement, also appealed for a halt to further discussions on the documents.
“The attention of the presidency has been drawn to two fiscal policy documents in circulation that are being given wide coverage by the mainstream media and social media platforms.

“One of the documents titled Inflation Reduction and Price Stability (Fiscal Policy Measure etc) Order 2024 is being shared as if it were an executive order signed by President Bola Tinubu.
“The other is a 65-page draft document with the title “Accelerated Stabilisation and Advancement Plan (ASAP), which contains suggestions on how to improve the Nigerian economy. President Tinubu received a copy of the draft on Tuesday,” Onanuga said.
He urged the public to disregard the two documents saying that none was an approved official document of the federal government, as they were all policy proposals that were still subject to reviews at the highest level of government.

He added that one of the contentious documents had ‘draft’ clearly written on it.
Referencing the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr. Wale Edun, Onanuga stressed the imperative of understanding that policymaking is an iterative process involving multiple drafts and discussions before any document is finalised.
“We assure the public that the official position on the documents will be made available after comprehensive reviews and approvals are completed,” he said.
Emanating from the two documents, he said, were reports second-guessing government’s policy on customs tariffs, fuel subsidy and other economic matters.
“The government wants to restate that its position on fuel subsidy has not changed from what President Bola Tinubu declared on May 29, 2023. The fuel subsidy regime has ended. There is no N5.4 trillion being provisioned for it in 2024, as being widely speculated and discussed,” he quoted Edun as having stated.
As previously stated by government officials, he stated that  the end of the fuel subsidy programme was announced last year, pointing out that the policy remains firmly in place.

He added that the federal government was committed to mitigating the effects of the removal and easing the cost of living pressures on Nigerians.
“Our strategy focuses on addressing key factors such as food inflation, which is significantly impacted by transport costs. With the implementation of our CNG initiative, which aims to displace high PMS (petrol) and AGO (diesel) costs, we expect to further reduce these costs.
“Our commitment to ending unproductive subsidies is steadfast, as is our dedication to supporting our most vulnerable populations,” Edun was quoted as having further stressed.

Onanuga appealed to the media to diligently exercise checks and restraints in the use of documents that do not emanate from official channels so that the members of the public are properly informed, guided and educated on government policies and programmes.
Also yesterday, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar accused the Tinubu administration of diverting public funds through petrol subsidy, hence the refusal of the government to reveal how much is being spent on subsidy.
Atiku said this in a statement signed by his media aide, Paul Ibe, that the clandestine subsidy regime was one of the reasons investments in the oil sector had refused to come in.

Atiku said: “Tinubu has brought the shady nature of running Lagos to the federal level. He claims subsidy is gone but his Special Adviser on Energy, Olu Verheijen, says they are intervening from time to time while his Finance Minister, Wale Edun, described subsidy removal as an ‘ongoing process’.
“A document authored by the Coordinating Minister of the Economy revealing how much subsidy is being paid is now being disowned by the very authors of the document.
“Both the World Bank and the IMF have revealed in separate reports that Nigeria is still paying petrol subsidies, but the Tinubu government refuses to come clean. Even a senior member of the APC had revealed that subsidy was being paid.
“For a man who claims to be on a mission to attract foreign direct investment, it is ironic that he cannot see that his policy flip flops and lies are capable of dissuading investors.
“He must come clean on this subsidy issue since he doubles as petroleum minister. The Tinubu administration should be courageous enough to own their policies and outcome with their full chest and responsible enough to be accountable for their actions to Nigerians,” the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 election, stated.
Atiku explained that the denial lends credence that money meant for the Federation Account, which ought to be shared to states and local governments, is being diverted without any form of accountability whatsoever.
He said: “There is a need for the National Assembly to get to the bottom of the matter rather than focusing on frivolous issues.
“The National Assembly needs to be alive to its responsibilities, especially in the area of oversight. Posterity will not be kind to members of the National Assembly if they continue to look the other way while daylight robbery is taking place,”  he said.
In the same vein, the PDP yesterday alleged that the revelation that the Tinubu-led All Progressives Congress (APC) administration was secretly paying a whopping N5.4 trillion as fuel subsidy for 2024 even after the president announced an end to fuel subsidy further confirmed PDP’s stand that the APC administration is a cesspit of corruption, lies and deceit.
In a statement by the National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, the party said that it further showed the callousness of the APC administration which is forcing Nigerians to buy fuel at very exorbitant price of over N800 per litre in various parts of the country.

It added that this is even while trillions of naira is allegedly being paid as fuel subsidy into private bank accounts associated with corrupt APC leaders.

Ologunagba urged Nigerians to recall how APC leaders in their characteristic manner tried to divert public attention when the PDP earlier alerted of the alleged fraudulent act in a statement on May 28, 2024.

He said: “This revelation by Wale Edun after series of denials by APC leaders and government officials validates the axiom that no matter how long lies appear to thrive the truth, like the sun, will always prevail.

“Is it not provocative and an act of extreme insensitivity that while our nation is suffering from grave infrastructural decay and millions of Nigerians subjected to punishing hardship, acute poverty, life of misery and utter despondency by the removal of subsidy without cushioning measures, a staggering N5.4 trillion, in the name of fuel subsidy, is reportedly being cornered by corrupt APC leaders?”

He added that the deceit which he said  is prevalent in the APC government is responsible for plunging Nigerians deeper into destitution with no hope in sight under the current administration.

Ologunagba said that Nigerians deserve to know where the N5.4 trillion is being taken from as well as which agency of government is responsible for the payment of the said fuel subsidy and to who.

“What is the criteria used for payment? What volume of fuel is being subsidised and at what cost? Why is petrol still selling exorbitantly even with the revelation of the continuing payment of fuel subsidy? These are questions that need to be answered,” the PDP stated.

The PDP demanded that Tinubu immediately clears the air and come clean by personally addressing Nigerians and ordering a public enquiry into the reported N5.4 trillion fuel subsidy under his watch.

The PDP added: “President Tinubu should immediately review his economic team with a view to getting capable hands and checking the corruption prevalent in the administration.

“Mr. President must also review the economic policies of the administration that is strangulating the people. Recognising, accepting and reviewing a flawed economic policy is not weakness but courage. That is what defines a leader at a time like this.

“President Tinubu should listen to the heartbeat of Nigerians. There is hunger and destitution in the land. The reaction of a hungry people is better imagined,” Ologunagba stated.