The General Overseer of the Latter Rain Assembly, Pastor Tunde Bakare, said he’s going to support fuel subsidy removal under President Muhammadu Buhari.
Bakare, who was Buhari’s running mate in the 2011 presidential election, said this while delivering an address titled, ‘Roadmap to successful change,’ in his church in Lagos on Sunday.
The Convener of the Save Nigeria Group, said even though he opposed the removal of subsidy and joined in the anti-subsidy removal protest in 2012, he would support the move now.
He explained that the protest against subsidy removal under former President Goodluck Jonathan was because the plan was only a ruse to cover up the diversion of stolen subsidy funds.
He said, “Given the resurgence of the subsidy conundrum, it has become needful to pre-empt and inform those who have been wondering if our January 2012 protests were organised in error. Let me reiterate that the Save Nigeria Group did not mobilise the people of this country to the Gani Fawehinmi Park, Ojota, merely to protest the removal of the fuel subsidy but to also challenge the corruption that defined the fuel subsidy regime.
He added that it was said before not a deregulation, as was being claimed by the government, but an increase in fuel price. The prosecution of those indicted in the damning report of the Farouk Lawan committee was demanded, a phenomenon that’s referred to as ‘Kleptoric kleptocracy unlimited’, where for instance, N999m was reportedly paid 129 times totalling N128,871,000,000 to some companies by the office of the Accountant General of the Federation.
He, however, urged the President to channel funds saved from the removal of subsidy to other critical areas.
He added that the Central Bank of Nigeria governor should be sacked and probed for releasing the money meant for arms to Dasuki.
He also said that it won’t be fair and proper to prosecute the immediate past National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki, for allegedly misappropriating the money meant for arms while the CBN governor, who released the money to Dasuki, was allowed to remain in office.
The cleric commended Buhari’s anti-corruption war, argued that the best way to bring about change was to implement the report of the National Conference.
He explained that the manifesto of the All Progressives Congress and the confab report were very similar.
Bakare said states must be given more financial autonomy in the face of their inability to pay salaries, adding that Nigeria had structural defects and only a restructuring would curb corruption and waste.
