The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Professor Nentawe Yilwatda, has emphasized that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s economic reforms, including the removal of fuel subsidy and the harmonization of foreign exchange rates, were necessary steps that Nigerians collectively endorsed.
Speaking on a live interview with Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Wednesday, Yilwatda stated that the policy decisions were not taken in isolation but reflected the consensus of political leaders, economists, and citizens.
“All Nigerians accepted that we needed those changes at that point in time. No political party, no commentator, almost everybody across the country said that we must remove the subsidy. Almost all the candidates agreed that the parallel forex is not in the interest of Nigeria. Almost all of them believed in the reforms, the tax reforms. So all the reforms that we’ve taken as a government, they were necessary reforms that the country needed at this juncture in time,” he said.
The APC leader highlighted the fiscal transformation that followed the reforms. According to him, the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) distributed ₦2 trillion to federal, state, and local governments last month, compared to less than ₦500 billion shared before the reforms.
“Just last month, the federal, state, and local governments at FEC shared two trillion naira, coming from a situation where before now, they shared barely about 500 billion,” he explained.
Yilwatda noted that previously indebted states are now more financially capable of meeting their obligations, particularly the payment of workers’ salaries.
“If you recall, in 2023, about 24 states of the Federation were actually borrowing, and some of them weren’t to pay salaries. Today, no single state has been unable to pay salaries. All state governors, all local governments have been able to pay salaries up to date,” he affirmed.
The APC chairman insisted that the reforms are not just stabilizing federal revenue but also strengthening state and local government capacities to provide effective public services.
okay.ng reports that the administration continues to defend the removal of subsidy despite the short-term hardships faced by citizens, stressing that the long-term benefits outweigh the challenges.
