Buhari threatened to sack me if petrol subsidy removal failed –Ex-minister, Kachikwu

Former Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, has disclosed that the late former President Muhammadu Buhari once threatened to dismiss him if his push to remove the petrol subsidy during Buhari’s administration backfired.

Kachikwu, who served as Minister of State for Petroleum Resources from 2016 to 2019, made the revelation on Monday while speaking at a virtual business mentorship lecture organised by the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB).

Recounting his experience, Kachikwu said his most pressing challenge upon assuming office as Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) in 2015 was the nationwide fuel scarcity that paralysed economic activities. He recalled spending sleepless nights attempting to ease the queues, only to discover that much of the subsidised petrol imported into Nigeria was being smuggled across the borders.

“The greatest challenge I had when I resumed as GMD was the issue of long queues at petrol stations. Very few Nigerians realise how traumatic it is for a minister or a GMD to wake up and find the entire country grounded. Despite my efforts, much of the subsidised product was leaving the country illegally, and my office did not have the political or security capacity to stop it,” he explained.

According to him, repeated appeals to Buhari for a review of pump prices were met with resistance, as the former president maintained a populist stance on subsidy.

“I went to the President very many times and said, ‘Look, I need to move up on price.’ He resisted very much because of his populist position. Eventually, he said, ‘Okay, you know what? I’ll leave you to take the risk. If it works, fine. If it doesn’t work, I fire you,’” Kachikwu recounted.

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Faced with the dilemma, Kachikwu introduced a policy he termed “price modulation,” which adjusted petrol prices in line with global market realities. He said the move eliminated the subsidy and cleared queues across the country within 48 hours.

“That singular price adjustment removed the subsidy. Within 48 hours, every queue in the country disappeared. It never happened again until I left office,” he noted.

Kachikwu further revealed that he declined to pay billions of naira in subsidy arrears he inherited, arguing that many of the claims lacked transparency and could not be verified.

“We didn’t pay the arrears of subsidy because my position was that I could not audit the transparency of the subsidy claims,” he said.

On the removal of fuel subsidy by President Bola Tinubu, Kachikwu maintained that the policy was inevitable but stressed that it should have been implemented alongside clear plans for refineries, infrastructure, transporters, and oil-producing communities.