The Presidency has defended the removal of fuel subsidy, using the growing number of infrastructure and development projects in Imo State to demonstrate that the policy is yielding tangible benefits.
During the media tour of Federal Government projects in Owerri, the Imo State capital, on Wednesday, the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Special Duties to President Bola Tinubu, Alhaji Tunde Rahman, said that the Federal and the state government projects inspected by the delegation reflected the impact of increased funding available to governments following the subsidy removal at the onset of the Tinubu administration on 29 May 2023.
In his capacity as the Director of Media and Publicity of the Renewed Hope Ambassadors, Rahman said that the projects underscored the importance of collaboration between the Federal Government and state administrations.
‘From all the projects we have seen so far, we can confirm the beauty and significance of states being in alignment with the centre for the purpose of development’, he said
He cited the Federal Government’s upgrade of the Alvan Ikoku Federal University of Education and improvements at the Federal University Teaching Hospital in Owerri as evidence of the administration’s commitment to development.
‘We can see that Governor Hope Uzodimma has executed essentially Federal Government projects. He is doing it to support the Federal Government in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda’, Rahman said.
He added that the Tertiary Education Trust Fund projects at the institution and large number of students from the state and the Southeast in general, who are benefiting from the Nigerian Education Loan Fund further demonstrated the administration’s focus on expanding access to education.
Rahman argued that the subsidy removal was a carefully considered policy, saying funds freed from the programme were now being channelled into projects with direct economic and social benefits.
‘It also shows that the removal of subsidy is a well-thought-out decision. The governors of the states the Renewed Hope Ambassador Media Tour has visited have confirmed that making funds available has helped them to implement projects. If the full benefits have not come to some states till now, they will come in no distant time’, he said.
