Former education minister Dr Oby Ezekwesili has criticised President Bola Tinubu’s handling of Nigeria’s fuel subsidy removal, describing it as a “good reform” implemented in the wrong way.
Speaking at a panel during the Nigerian Bar Association conference in Enugu on Monday, Ezekwesili said the abrupt decision had deepened hardship, pushing more Nigerians into poverty.
“You can have the right policies, but if you implement them the wrong way, there will be problems,” she said.
“The subsidy removal was not prepared for. It was a good reform done the wrong way. Inflation is punishing the populace, and the poor have nowhere to run.”
She argued that Tinubu’s announcement of “subsidy is gone” without adequate cushioning measures had left millions vulnerable. “Inflation hits the poor so hard. This was a reform done wrongly,” she insisted.
Ezekwesili also used the occasion to urge lawyers and judges to resist “prebendal politics” that allow elites to enrich themselves while ordinary Nigerians suffer.
“We have 133 million Nigerians living in poverty, yet the political class continues to fail them. The legal profession must not reward prebendalism,” she added.
In his keynote address, Interior Minister Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo called for greater investment in research and development to drive growth.
“Four of the five biggest economies in the world are also the highest spenders on R&D,” he noted, warning that Nigeria’s heavy debt servicing had left little room for capital projects.
Another panellist, senior lawyer George Etomi, raised concerns about judicial independence, claiming that “our judiciary was more independent under the military” than in today’s democracy.
Delegates at the session expressed dissatisfaction with the government’s economic direction. Asked whether Nigeria was on the right track, the majority of participants said “no”.
A similar response followed when asked if the administration’s “Renewed Hope Agenda” had improved their outlook.
