The Presidency and presidential candidate of the Labour Party, LP, in the 2023 elections, Peter Obi, clashed yesterday over the fuel subsidy removal and foreign exchange policies of President Bola Tinubu?s administration.

While Obi noted that both policies were haphazardly implemented by the government to plunge the country into economic crisis, the President accused Obi of being too desperate for power and lacked understanding of governance.

Although the former Anambra State governor agreed that the removal of fuel subsidy was necessary, he, however, quarrelled with the manner it was executed.

He also asked the Tinubu administration to account for the money saved so far from the removal of the subsidy and also show proof of its expenditure on such infrastructure as education, health and poverty reduction, as it claimed.

Recall that President Tinubu had, on his inauguration on May 29 2023, announced the removal of fuel subsidy and flotation of forex exchange, triggering the economic crisis the country had been facing, especially with regards to inflation and devaluation of the naira.

In an interview on Arise Television, Obi said while the removal of fuel subsidy was necessary, the policy should have been implemented in a ?gradual and organised? fashion.

He said: ?I have consistently maintained that I would have removed the fuel subsidy. If you go to my manifesto, it is there and the steps I would have taken in an organised manner.

?There is nothing wrong with the removal of the fuel subsidy. What is wrong is the haphazard way it was announced and implemented.?

He acknowledged that the subsidy regime was riddled with ?criminality and corruption? and needed to end, but criticised the current administration?s approach, describing it as poorly executed.

Obi questioned the management of the funds saved from the subsidy removal, saying, ?since we were told that we removed it because we don?t want to borrow and that the funds will allow for investments in critical infrastructure.

Billions saved. Where is it? Where is it invested in critical areas of development? Everybody knows critical areas of development ? education, health, and pulling people out of poverty. Have any of these three improved? No.??

Obi said a fair pricing template should have been negotiated with stakeholders to cushion the impact on citizens.

He also addressed the decision to float the naira, saying the policy wasn?t inherently wrong but must be backed by economic productivity.

?There is nothing wrong in floating and devaluing your currency. You do this when you have productivity. In all of this, I would have done the same thing in an organised manner,? he said.

Since President Bola Tinubu?s announcement on May 29, 2023, ending the fuel subsidy, the price of petrol has surged from N190 to over N850 per litre. The administration also adopted a currency float policy, allowing market forces to determine the naira?s value.

But replying Obi yesterday, Special Adviser to the President on Policy Communications, Daniel Bwala, described the Labour Party?s presidential candidate as a ?shallow? personality who was not well grounded in issues of economics and governance.

Bwala, in a statement posted via his official X account, stated that he was surprised Obi could agree with the economic policies of President Bola Tinubu, especially on fuel subsidy removal and the unification of foreign exchange, but emphasised that it was obvious the former Anambra governor and other opposition figures were simply after taking over power, all the while.

He wrote: ?Is anybody watching Peter Obi on Arise TV? He agreed with our policy of removal of subsidy and unification of the foreign exchange; he claimed he would have done it better than us in an ?organised manner?

?He was asked what the ?organised manner ?is?. He played with words, yet to arrive at agreeing with us.

Anybody with a rational mind knows these guys are just looking to grab power, but they don?t have any alternative agenda.

?He seems to have very shallow knowledge of economics and governance. Remember, this is even an interview anchored by a member of his Obidient movement.

?That?s why you don?t hear ?I put it to you? and no barking like a Rottweiler; Yet ?if it didn?t dey, it didn?t dey.?

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