Speaking at a workshop the office of the accountant-general of the
federation organised at government house, Kano, the emir opposed
subsidizing petroleum products and electricity tariff.
He advised President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration to take a
different stance, saying for 30 years, successive governments “have had
this project called petroleum subsidy”.\
He said the time had come to stop subsidy so as to save the nation’s
economy.
“We are heading to bankruptcy… what happened is that the federal
government pays petroleum subsidy, pays electricity tariff subsidy, and
if there is rise in interest rates, federal government pays,” he said.
“What is more life threatening than subsidy that we have to sacrifice
education, health sector and infrastructure for us to have cheap
petroleum.
“If truly President Buhari is fighting poverty, he should remove the
risk on the national financial sector and stop the subsidy regime which
is fraudulent.”
Sanusi asked Buhari to tell Nigerians the fact about the economic
situation and also act quickly on this.
“Since I have decided to come here, you have to accept what I have said
here. And please, if you do not want to hear the truth, never invite
me,” he said.
“So, let us talk about the state of public finance in Nigeria. We have a
number of very difficult decisions that we must make, and we should face
the reality. His Excellency, the president, said in his inaugural speech
that his government would like to lift 100 million people out of
poverty, it was a speech that was well received not only in this
country, but worldwide.
“The number of people living with poverty in Nigeria is frightening. By
2050, 85 percent of those living in extreme poverty in the world will be
from the African continent. And Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of
Congo will take the lead.
“Two days ago, I read that the percentage of government revenue going to
debt services has risen to 70 percent. These numbers are not lying. They
are public numbers. I read them in the newspapers. When you are spending
70 percent of your revenue on debt servicing, then you are managing 30
percent.
“And then, you continue subsidising petroleum products; and spending
N1.5 trillion per annum on petroleum subsidy! And then we are
subsidizsng electricity tariff. And maybe, you have to borrow from the
capital market or the Central Bank of Nigeria to service the shortfall
in the electricity tariff, where is the money to pay salaries, where is
the money for education, where other government projects?”
Sanusi is known for speaking his mind, even when highly-placed
government officials are involved.
In 2014, ex-President Goodluck Jonathan suspended him months after he
raised the alarm that $20 billion was unaccounted for under the
government of Jonathan.
Presently, the monarch is having a running battle with Abdullahi
Ganduje, governor of Kano, who broke the emirate led by Sanusi into
five, appointing four new emirs while the state anti-graft agency also
probed the monarch and recommended his suspension.