Atiku is father of subsidy removal in Nigeria — Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim

Hashim argued that Atiku’s position on subsidy removal predates the Tinubu administration, describing the former vice president as one of the earliest major advocates of subsidy removal and wholesale privatisation during Nigeria’s Fourth Republic.” ‘We opposed subsidy removal when it was politically inconvenient’Hashim recalled that in 1999, during the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, when Atiku served as Vice President and headed the government’s economic team, the administration increased petroleum product prices and removed subsidy.

Hashim said he had consistently opposed the removal of subsidy on petroleum products and reiterated his position during an interview on Trust TV last week, where he advocated restoring subsidy on petroleum and other strategically important products as part of measures to protect citizens and productive sectors from excessive economic shocks.