The presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr. Bola Tinubu has made no bones about the issue of fuel subsidy saying subsidy removal is one of his action plans if he becomes president in 2023.
Spokesman for the APC torch bearer, Mr. Tunde Rahman said in a statement that Tinubu made the declaration while speaking at a business luncheon with business owners held yesterday in Lagos under the theme ‘Business Forward’.
Rahman quoted his principal as saying that he would take bold decisions to would turn the economy around and one of such would be the scrapping of fuel subsidy regime no matter how long people would protest against such a decision.
Besides, he insisted that Nigeria would not continue to subsidise fuel consumption in neighbouring countries.
“How can we be subsidising fuel consumption of Cameroon, of Niger, of Benin Republic? No matter how long you protest, we are going to remove subsidy,” he said.
On security, he said he was not new to fixing security challenges.
“First, the primary responsibility of government is to protect the lives, properties, and prosperity of its citizens.
“As Governor of Lagos, fixing the difficult security situation I inherited was the first item on my list. Only after we secured the state and changed its reputation for the better, could we embark on the economic reforms that have ultimately produced the vibrant and active megacity of today.
“I am committed to securing Nigerians from violence and the fear of such violence. Terror, kidnapping and banditry have no place in the society I envision. Upon entering office, we will move to implement several measures,” he said.
He added that his administration would increase the number of military and non-military security forces as well as establish specialist anti-terrorist battalions with integrated special forces units.
“We did it in Lagos with the RRS Scheme. We can do it again for Nigeria. As we fight insecurity, we must deal with our economy at the same time. We know that business and insecurity cannot thrive side by side.
“Our critical national infrastructure protection plan will deploy aerial and ground surveillance technology to survey the most dangerous areas and secure our country’s vital national infrastructure and installations
He added: “We shall acquire and upgrade the tactical communications and mobility of our troops and security personnel. We must also devote greater attention to the care and welfare of our military and security forces who put themselves in harm’s way to keep us safe.
“In sum, our objective is to be able to outmaneuvre, outwit and outflank the terrorists and criminal groups. They want to defeat our democratic and good society. We shall defeat their evil one. We did it in Lagos with the RRS Scheme. We can do it again for Nigeria,” he said.
