By Bayo Davids
The Chief of Staff to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila has said that frontline Presidential candidates in the 2023 election all agreed that the subsidy on Petroleum Motor Spirit popularly known as fuel, had to go to pave way for an invigorated economy .
Recall that former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, ex- Governor of Anambra State, Mr. Peter Obi and erstwhile Governor of Kano State, Rabiu Kwankwaso flew the flags of the Peoples Democratic Party, the Labour Party and the New Nigeria People’s Party and finished second, third and fourth on the log respectively.
The removal of fuel subsidy in June 2023 by President Tinubu has brought an untold hardship in the country given the increment in the cost of transportation and inflation in the cost of good.and services.
But speaking at his Surulere 1 Federal Constituency bye- election in Lagos on Saturday, Gbajabiamila said the hardship in the country is being felt in other parts of the world as well.
He said, “You talk about subsidy removal. There was a national consensus. Everybody agreed that the subsidy had to go. Unification of the naira? Everyone agreed.
“Clearly, Nigerians are going through hardship. Same thing is also going on in other parts of the world. Nigeria is not isolated. It is even in the most advanced democracy that these shocks are being received left, right and centre — from the north, east, west, and south. They are universal.
“Let’s forget about the other countries. I want to encourage people. It has been six, seven months of this government.
“Moving forward, one believes things will begin to take a turn. Like I said, for it to get better, some people would say it has to get bad.”
In what appeared to be an indictment of previous administrations, Gbajabiamila noted that the lack of basic economic foundation in the past was what has brought the nation to her current situation.
“Things have been very difficult because of the fundamentals that were missing in the first place. It is those economic fundamentals that the government is putting into place.
Gbajabiamila, who resigned from the House of Representatives to pick up his current job as Chief of Staff, said whoever succeeds him should be “focused”.
“Legislative work comes with a lot of dedication, hard work, and experience. It may be very difficult initially but when you put your head down and have the focus of the people at heart, you will do well,” he stressed.