Atoyebi: Minimum Wage Earners Should Buy Fuel Within Their Means

Tinubu ally Atoyebi defends subsidy removal and security reforms amid criticism over rising hardship and insecurity nationwide.

Convener of the Bola Ahmed Tinubu Ideological Group, Bamidele Atoyebi, has defended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration against criticisms over worsening insecurity, insisting that the government had made significant investments in security architecture and economic reforms.

Speaking during an interview with ARISE NEWS on Thursday, Atoyebi argued that the Tinubu administration had strengthened Nigeria’s defence system through decentralisation and increased investment in military and police training institutions.

“Tinubu is the first president you can see that the investment in our defence has skyrocketed to the highest level,” Atoyebi said.

“And you can see that he is decentralising everything that could make security work better because when it is well locally, when it is well with the community and the borderline, it will be well nationally. That is why he has to decentralise all the security apparatus.”

He pointed to the decentralisation of military and police institutions across the country as evidence of the administration’s efforts.

“Look at the Police Academy being decentralised. Look at the Nigerian Army Training Centre being decentralised. Look at the Air Force training being decentralised. You have Enugu, Ebonyi State, Osun State and Ogun State benefiting from this decentralisation,” he said.

“We are also pushing that the Nigerian Defence Academy should also be decentralised to the southern and northern parts like Kwara and other parts of the country.”

Atoyebi’s comments came amid mounting concerns over insecurity across Nigeria, including recent protests by teachers and schoolchildren in Oyo, Ogun and Bayelsa states demanding the rescue of abducted victims.

Responding to criticism that insecurity had worsened under the Tinubu administration, Atoyebi suggested that the resurgence of attacks often coincided with the political season.

“On the spate of insecurity, you can see the trend is always there, that when elections are coming on, this has always been the trend,” he said.

When challenged by the ARISE NEWS anchors over the state of the economy and insecurity, Atoyebi maintained that Tinubu’s economic reforms had stabilised Nigeria and improved the country’s standing internationally.

“Everybody knows that the economy is doing very well,” he said.

“The developed world is respecting us just because our economy is doing well.”

According to him, the removal of fuel subsidy and the floating of the naira were necessary reforms long advocated by economists.

“No serious country takes you seriously when you are subsidising consumption, like subsidising fuel, subsidising foreign exchange and subsidising virtually everything,” he said.

“The first subsidy, which was the cancer in our economy, every logical person, every sound economist, believed should go, which the president did on his first day in office. It was in his manifesto action plan.”

He added: “Subsidising the naira against the dollar was also removed. Everybody knows these things had to go, but there was no courage, there was no vision and there was no knowledge before now.”

During the interview, Atoyebi disclosed that he recently spent N157,000 to fill the tank of his vehicle, after purchasing fuel at N1,150 per litre.

Asked how that compared with the realities faced by Nigerians earning the minimum wage, he responded: “That’s not how things work. I’m not a civil servant, I’m a businessman.”

He further stated: “A civil servant earning minimum wage should not be buying fuel beyond their means. They should just buy what is within their limits.”