Nigeria is now keeping more money in its pocket, saving an estimated ₦10 trillion every year following President Bola Tinubu’s decision to scrap fuel subsidy, Senator Solomon Adeola has disclosed.
Adeola, who represents Ogun West Senatorial District and chairs the Senate Committee on Appropriation, made the revelation on Saturday at his New Year thanksgiving service held at the Cathedral Church of Christ, Ona-Nla, Ilaro.
The senator said that in less than two years, the President had uprooted what he described as a long-standing economic parasite that drained public finances and weakened the nation’s economy.
He explained that the fuel subsidy regime had largely served the interests of a privileged few, while the vast majority of Nigerians bore the burden.
Popularly known as Yayi, Adeola recalled that before the policy was halted, the country was forced to borrow between ₦6 trillion and ₦7 trillion annually just to sustain the subsidy.
“I am a living testimony to what the president has done. Within his two years of assumption of office, he succeeded in removing the cankerworm in our economy that has affected our finances over the years.
“That is, the fuel subsidy; which benefited very few Nigerians at the detriment of the overall population of this nation.
“With that singular action, the president is saving the country over N10 trillion on annual basis.
“I used to be the chairman, senate committee on finance during the last senate and I know on a yearly basis, what we go to bank to borrow to fund the subsidy is in the region of N6 trillion to N7 trillion on an annual basis,” he said.
Adeola added that the President remains relentless in his drive to build a safer and more prosperous country, noting that large-scale infrastructure projects are steadily reshaping the national landscape.
“The president is creating a new Nigeria . The Lagos-Calabar expressway will cut across 10 or 15 states and that is a new Nigeria being born. Also the Sokoto -Badagry way, a popular road, which we are also a beneficiary.
“Along that road alone, we have a total of 66 dams. When that road is fully completed, the president has also succeeded in creating a new Nigeria and a new economy for our country as a result of these 66 dams across the highway,” he said.
In his sermon, the Diocesan Bishop of the Cathedral Church of Christ, Ilaro, Rt. Rev. Micheal Oluwarohunbi, commended the senator for what he described as a visible transformation of Ogun West.
“Every new beginning is a gift from God. To work and do well is only by the grace of God. Gratitude is not optional, but mandatory in order to enjoy divine endorsement,” he said.
