Subsidy Removal: Aniebonam hails Tinubu’s courage, decries timing

By Izuchukwu Ozoemena

In the aftermath of public outcry against the sudden removal of fuel subsidy and the attendant hardship it has foisted on the masses, Founder and Chairman, Board of Trustees of the New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP), Dr Boniface Aniebonam, has hailed President Tinubu on the courage to do so, saying that the removal is in order as it is better to make a wrong decision than not making a decision at all.

However, Dr Aniebonam who spoke to the press in Lagos, Thursday, said what is wrong with the announcement by the President is timing.

He recalled that removal of subsidy was one cardinal promise the major political parties made to Nigerians as they campaigned before elections. He charged the Federal Government to carry the masses along by way of quickly putting in place programmes and policies aimed at cushioning the negative effects of the regime and using the mass media to disseminate these.

“It is better to make a wrong decision than not making a decision at all.”

On the position of his party in the scheme of things now, he disclosed that rather than being perceived as an opposition party in the context Nigerians take any party that fails to clinch the seat of government, NNPP remains a responsible partner to other sister political parties. What matters is the general good of Nigerians.

“NNPP is a responsible partner to any authority as far as managing and administering Nigeria is concerned.”

He described as unfounded speculations that his party was forging an alliance with the ruling APC. NNPP, he explained, is not into trouble-shooting but rather into constructive engagement with the government of the day provided that would bring about common good for the larger majority of the people of Nigeria.

Aniebonam spoke against the backdrop of the recent post-election meeting in France between Senator Kwankwaso, the NNPP Presidential candidate, and then President-elect, Tinubu shortly before his inauguration.
According to reports, Tinubu was alleged to have promised to co-opt Kwankwaso into his cabinet of National Competence, a development that fueled insinuations that Kwankwaso may have been sponsored by the Tinubu’s APC to undermine PDP’s Atiku Abubakar to divide northern votes at the election.

While ruling out the possibility of any form of a spoiler’s job for Atiku Abubakar, Aniebonam insisted that the party’s candidate was in the presidential race to win the election. There is absolutely no reason to do that, he stated, especially given the overall performance of the party in 2023 general elections in the country.

Kwankwaso being a lover of Nigeria could not have refused an invitation from President-elect Tinubu to meet him in France, Aniebonam disclosed. He did so out of respect for the incoming President.
Kwankwaso is a lover of Nigeria and is willing to do anything for the good of the country.

“NNPP is not combative; there is no need for media trial at this time. We don’t go trouble- shooting. There is absolutely nothing bad with Kwankwaso meeting with Tinubu in France. We need to offer constructive engagements. The party can congratulate him (Tinubu) and still go to court to challenge his victory. That doesn’t mean anything.

“Kwankwaso is not a spoiler for Atiku. What for? NNPP is not an opposition party in the context we use it in Nigeria. Opposition should be about constructive engagement and not that anything the government does is wrong and must be criticised. NNPP is rather a responsible partner in the overall interest of the Nigerian project”.

Aniebonam recalled that from her humble beginning traceable to about 21 years ago, NNPP sprang a huge surprise in the present political dispensation by defeating APC, the party in power, to clinch the governorship seat in Kano State.

Beside cornering 2 Senatorial seats in Kano State, NNPP also won 18 out of the 24 House of Representatives seats.
24 out of the 40 state’s House of Assembly positions are also in the party’s kitty.

In Jigawa, the party won one House of Representatives position. In Bauchi, Taraba, and Nasarawa, NNPP clinched 1, 2 and 2 House of Assembly seats respectively.

In Taraba, NNPP’s governorship candidate of the party, Prof Yahaya Sani is currently challenging the outcome of the governorship election in which the PDP candidate was declared winner by the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC and has since been sworn in.

The above scenario, Aniebonam explained, places NNPP as a party that cannot be pushed over; it is a party for the future.