Falana
Human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, has faulted President Bola Tinubu’s decision to remove fuel subsidy, insisting that the policy has worsened hardship and was a grave economic blunder.
The outspoken Senior Advocate of Nigeria, who was a key voice during the 2012 Occupy Nigeria protests against subsidy removal under former President Goodluck Jonathan, insisted that Tinubu’s policy has only deepened hardship instead of providing relief.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Sunday, Falana reminded Nigerians that the subsidy debate was not new but one tied to decades of IMF and World Bank prescriptions that have often left developing countries poorer.
“I have always been against fuel subsidy removal since 2012. No country in the world has abolished or removed subsidies completely.
“Even leading Western countries, like the United States of America, the United Kingdom, France, and others, subsidise electricity, agriculture, and many aspects of the lives of their people,” he said.
Falana accused the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank of dictating Nigeria’s economic direction, including subsidy removal and naira devaluation, urging Tinubu to chart a more independent path.
According to him, the unpopular decision has created social tension across Nigeria. Punch
