Reported by: Oahimire Omone Precious | Edited by: Henry Owen | Stone Reporter News
Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, has disclosed that former President Goodluck Jonathan suspended plans to remove the petrol subsidy in 2012 due to concerns that Boko Haram insurgents might target nationwide protesters.
Sanusi, who was Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) at the time, spoke at the Oxford Global Think Tank Leadership Conference, themed “Better Leader for a Better Nigeria”. He stated that the proposed policy on petrol subsidy was misunderstood and poorly managed during Jonathan’s administration.
According to the Emir, Nigeria’s petrol subsidy system functioned as a “naked hedge,” where the federal government guaranteed a fixed pump price irrespective of global crude oil prices, exchange rates, or interest rates. This arrangement forced the government to borrow heavily, not only to fund the subsidy but also to service the interest on those loans.
Sanusi explained, “We moved from a point where we were using revenues to pay subsidies, to where we had to borrow money to pay subsidies, to where we had to borrow money to pay interest on the borrowed money. We had become bankrupt.”
The emir highlighted that the nationwide protests against petrol subsidy removal lasted nearly two weeks, bringing economic activities across the country to a standstill, a scenario that reportedly influenced Jonathan’s decision to halt the plan.
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