There Are Consequences of Hesitation in Fuel Subsidy Elimination – Emir Sanusi

The Emir of Kano, Muhammad Sanusi II, has asserted that Nigeria’s current economic turmoil is rooted in the nation’s failure to abolish fuel subsidies over a decade ago.

Sanusi articulated this perspective on Tuesday during the Oxford Global Think Tank Leadership Conference.

The former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria emphasized that Nigeria might have circumvented today’s crippling inflation and economic adversity if the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan had been permitted to eliminate the subsidy in 2011.

“If Nigerians had permitted the Jonathan administration to eradicate the subsidy in 2011, there would have been discomfort. Yet, that discomfort would have been a mere fraction of the agony we are enduring today. This is the reason for the procrastination,” he remarked.

He noted that the CBN had previously evaluated the anticipated effects of subsidy removal and determined that inflation would not have ascended beyond 30 percent had the policy been enacted then.

“At that time, we meticulously calculated the figures at the Central Bank. I stood before everyone and put my integrity on the line, advocating for the immediate removal of the subsidy. Inflation would rise from 11 percent to 13 percent, and I vowed to bring it down within a year. We would not have witnessed inflation rates soaring into the 30s,” he asserted.