How we played politics with fuel subsidy removal in 2012 – Fayemi
Dr. Kayode Fayemi, former Governor of Ekiti State, on Tuesday, said the protest that followed the removal of fuel during the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan in 2012 was due to political interests.
Fayemi made this statement in his keynote speech at a national forum held in Abuja to celebrate the 60th birthday anniversary of Professor Udenta Udenta, the founding National Secretary of the Alliance for Democracy and Fellow of the Abuja School of Social and Political Thought in Abuja.
Jonathan, Dr. Oby Ezekwesili, a former minister of education, and Osita Chidoka, a former minister of aviation, were among those present at the event.
On January 1, 2012, Nigerians woke up with the announcement by President Goodluck of the removal of fuel subsidy, and adjustment of the pump price of petrol from N65 per litre to N141.
The decision sparked mass protests, tagged ‘Occupy Nigeria’ across major cities of the country.
Following protests that lasted for more than a week, the price was later changed to N97.
Later in 2015, petrol price was reduced to N87.
Leaders of the All Progressives Congress, who were then in different opposition parties, such as the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria, Congress for Progressives Congress, All Nigeria Peoples Party, and All Progressive Grand Alliance were particularly critical of Jonathan for the price adjustment.
Fayemi criticized Nigeria’s democracy, calling it a “winners take all” system, and stated that the country cannot overcome its current problems unless it adopts proportional representation, in which the winners and losers of elections divide the spoils equally.
According to him, the last time Nigeria experienced economic development was during Jonathan’s administration
Fayemi said, “Today, I read former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s interview in The Cable saying our liberal democracy is not working and we need to revisit it, and I agree with him. We must move from the political alternatives. I think we are almost on a dead end of that.
“What we need is alternative politics and my own notion of alternative politics is that you can’t have 35% of the vote and take 100%. It won’t work! We must look at proportional representation so that the party that is said to have won 21% of the votes will have 21% of the government. Adversary politics bring division and enmity.
“All political parties in the country agreed and they even put in their manifesto that subsidy must be removed. We all said subsidy must be removed. But we in ACN at the time, in 2012, we know the truth Sir, but it is all politics.
“That is why we must ensure that everybody is a crucial stakeholder by stopping all these. Let the manifesto of PDP, APC, and Labour Party, be put on the table and select all those who will pilot the programme from all parties.”
