Fuel Subsidy: It’s too early to criticize Tinubu – APC Stalwart
By Tom Okpe
Former acting National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, (APC) Hiliard Eta has stated that Nigerians should take it easy with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as it’s just few days to his reign as President of the Federal Republic, judging from challenges brought about by the removal of fuel subsidy.
He advised that Nigerians should allow President Tinubu come out with a clean measures to alleviate their pains.
While calling for restrains, the Governing Council Chairman of the APC Institute of Progressives Affairs exonerated Mr President from blame saying its early to criticize the new regime.
ETA made the appeal in Abuja on Tuesday at the party National Secretariat, Buhari House, to discuss the 10th anniversary of the part with the its national leaders.
Speaking with journalists, Eta said: Let me start by saying that there is a consensus in Nigeria that the time had come for the subsidy to be removed.
“I believe no section of the country is against subsidy removal. The question is, what happens after the removal of the subsidy? This government is barely 54 days and even though I will not run away from issues of serious economic dimensions across most homes in Nigeria, I think it is too early to pass a judgement on this government.
“It has removed subsidies but the forces of fiscal and monetary policies will bring everything to normal. I don’t believe the price of fuel will rise above what it is but even if it happens, I believe that the time has come for the president and his team to bring solutions to the many economic problems that are tied or nexuses between all of these things to our wellbeing.
“Take, for instance, the scarcity of Dollars, our economy is tied to importation. If not, we won’t be going about looking for Dollars.”
He further stressed: “The reason for our visit to the party today is to intimate and interact with the leadership of the party, especially with the coming of the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the party.
“As you are all aware, the APC was established on the 31st of July 2013. Exactly one week from today, we will be celebrating it in the political evolution process of the country.
“The party was established in 2013 and by 2015 we have done the unthinkable, we had opposition parties, come together and ousted a behemoth of a political party that has bestride the political landscape for sixteen years.
“We have gone ahead to win back-to-back national elections in 2019 and 2023.
“After the resignation of the national chairman and secretary, Senators Abdullahi Adamu and Iyiola Omisore, respectively, the party seems to be in crisis, but I will assure you that, thè institute has no official position on this.
“The last time the faculty met we did not discuss anything about the party but in my capacity as a member of the party, I will say, there is no crisis in the party.
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“You know that a political party is peopled by Nigerians with different worldviews, ideologies, cosmetologists and understandings. You cannot expect millions of people to come together and not have altercations and acrimony. Even in nuclear homes where you have the mother and children from the same father, they have acrimony. Let us not elevate these things beyond the ordinary,” he said.
On his opinion over the endorsement by the Progressives governors of former Kano State Governor, Umar Ganduje as replacement for Adamu, ETA said; “The president has not said he chose him, and the governors have not said so, I can’t react to an issue we don’t know who chose him if he tells us who chose him, then we can start responding,” he added.
