Former Minister of Sports and Youths Development, Solomon Dalung has called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to urgently crash down the prices of petrol and food items by 50% in order to address the heightening hardship being experienced by Nigerians across the country.
Dalung who stated this while speaking on AriseNews Morning Show on Tuesday 20 February, said that the only solution to the current hardship was to revert to the transparent payment of fuel subsidy in order to crash down the price of petrol which is a chief driver of the current hike in the cost of living.
“I wouldn’t want Tinubu to resign but he should change his method of governance. Parts of the solution I will recommend to President Tinubu is to crash down the price of petrol by 50% and begin a transparent subsidy payment. He should crash the prices of food items by 50%.” He added in parts.
The former Minister stressed that even if it involves barrowing more to fund subsidy, the president must do so to address the high cost of living that has been occasioned by the unplanned removal of fuel subsidy.
Dalung who stated that former president Muhammadu Buhari should not be blamed for Tinubu’s self-inflicted injury, charged president Bola Tinubu and his cabinet members to desist from blaming the former president and focus more on improving the country’s battered economy.
While affirming that the previous administration in which he was part of has failed Nigerians and share a chunk of the blame in the imminent failure of leadership in the country, Dalung stated that it would be uncharitable for President Tinubu who had earlier declared that he should be held to account and not be pitied for carrying out his duties as president, to start shifting blames.
Commenting on the prevailing insecurity challenges in the Plateau, the former Sports minister alleged that prior to some of the recent attacks in Plateau state, a noble peace delegation he had led to see president Bola Ahmed Tinubu was denied access to by the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu despite all efforts to see the president.
Recall that the former minister had on Monday 19 February, taken to his X handle to slam the president for snatching power and failing to address the escalating hardship being faced by Nigerians across the country.
