Buhari threatened to sack me if fuel subsidy removal failed – Ex-Minister Kachikwu

Former Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, has revealed that the late President Muhammadu Buhari only reluctantly agreed to a fuel price hike, threatening to fire him if the policy went wrong.

Speaking at a virtual event organized by the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, Kachikwu detailed the intense pressure he faced in 2016 to end the chronic fuel shortages that were crippling the nation.

Kachikwu, who was also the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC), described the fuel queues as a “traumatic experience.”

He discovered that a significant amount of subsidized petrol was being smuggled across Nigeria’s borders, making scarcity inevitable.

Despite his efforts, he lacked the “political or security resources” to stop it.

A reluctant President was to adjust pump prices to reflect international market rates and eliminate the incentive for smuggling, he recalled.

He said, however, that President Buhari, holding a “populist stance,” repeatedly resisted the idea.

According to Kachikwu, Buhari eventually relented but issued a stern ultimatum: “Okay, you know what? I’ll leave you to take the risk. If you take the risk and it works, fine. If it doesn’t work, I fire you.”

Kachikwu, however, introduced a “price modulation” policy. The slight price adjustment successfully removed the subsidy and, he claimed, cleared the nationwide fuel queues within 48 hours, a situation that did not recur during his tenure.

He also stated that he refused to pay billions of naira in outstanding subsidy arrears he inherited, arguing that the claims were unverifiable and lacked transparency.

While affirming that the eventual removal of the subsidy by President Bola Tinubu was inevitable, Kachikwu criticized the execution, stating it should have been accompanied by clear and concrete plans for refineries, infrastructure, and other key sectors to cushion the impact on citizens.

About The Author

Dele Fashomi

Dele Fashomi, seasoned journalist and communication teacher, is a holder of Master of Arts degree in Communication and Language Arts from the University of Ibadan in 1992/93.

Earlier, he had bagged a Bachelor degree from the same university in 1984, after which he proceeded to the Nigerian Institute of Journalism, Lagos, in 1990, for a postgraduate diploma in Journalism.

He had done many courses in communication, including the EU-BBC Editing Course in 2002.

Mr. Fashomi combines effectively the practice, research and teaching of communication. And to date, he has published two academic works in communication: Issues in Communication Technology and Policy (2010) and Economic and Social Issues in Advertising and PR (2013).

He had his first break in the Nigerian media in Concord Newspapers in 1990 and today, he has over two and half decades experience earned in several newspapers.

He has been part of many start-ups, such as The Republic (1987), The Comet (1999), The Anchor 2001 – 2002; Sun Newspapers (2003); Westerner newsmagazine (2005 – 2010) as Editor; National Life (2011) as Sunday Editor, and Newswatch Newspapers (2012- 2016) as Daily Editor.

Dele Fashomi is now the Publisher/Editor-in-Chief of Newstide247.com newspaper online, which he started in July 2015. He is also into biography writing, with many books in his trail, some of which he wrote alone and one he co- authored with his mentor, Mr Dare Babarinsa, entitled:  Olabiyi Durojaiye – DARE TO BE DiFFERENT. He also guided and collaborated with Pa Olatunji Odusanya in writing his autobiography – AGAINST ALL ODDS. There are many other books in the works under his pen.

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