Tinubu must reorder priorities on subsidy removal – Falana

By Olayinka Ajayi

Human rights activist and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, has urged President Bola Tinubu to review the fuel subsidy removal to address the abject poverty suffered by most Nigerians.

Speaking on a monitored programme on Channels Television, ‘Politics Today’, Falana insisted that “to eradicate poverty, you must begin to apply all the welfare laws in the country.”

“Most Nigerians cannot afford three square meals a day,” Falana lamented. “The World Bank can complain and behave like Pontius Pilate, without any research or consultation, insisting that fuel subsidy, electricity subsidy, and others be removed.”

Falana insisted that Nigerians have a legal right to access healthcare, education, and a better life. “What we are saying is that there are laws; we are not pleading with the government, we are talking about the legal right of our people to access health and education and live a better life in the country.”

The human rights activist called for pressure to be mounted on both the federal and state governments to comply with court judgements and address poverty. “As we are mounting pressure on the federal government, we also must mount pressure on the state government, and it shows that we can mount pressure on the local government very soon, by the time we compel the federal government to comply with the court judgement.”

Falana attributed the rising poverty to the government’s neoliberal policies and advocated for a review. “Because of the neoliberal policy of the government, poverty is on the ascendancy, which will require a review by the federal government of these policies. You cannot be addressing income inequality in the country while you are handing over the resources of the country to a few people in what they call privatisation.”

The activist also criticised the IMF policy, saying it exacerbates income disparity. “The IMF policy should be reviewed; we are expanding income disparity in society. We must pay attention to the state government and the local government.”

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