By Abubakar Liman
Federal lawmaker representing Kebbi North District in the 9th Assembly, Senator Yahaya Abdullahi has reacted to the immediate removal of fuel subsidy by President Bola Tinubu, saying he is right to have have removed it as subsidy regime is not sustainable.
Sen Yahaya stated this while fielding questions from journalists on Wednesday in his office at the National Assembly Complex.
Reacting to President Tinubu’s inaugural remarks wherein he said he will tackle the menace in agriculture and the announcement of removal of fuel subsidy, the Senate Committee Chairman on agriculture said:
“Well agriculture is a much more complex subject, it transcends both the issue of petroleum subsidy and several other issues. It has a lot of bearings on society, economy and much more. So the major issue is that on the subsidy matter, the position of the President is very right. It is not sustainable. Not only that it’s not sustainable but the way in which it’s administered, it doesn’t reach those people who are expected to benefit from it. So since it doesn’t do so, why don’t you capture the resources like he said. Capture the resources that are wasted or used on subsidy and spend it on other issues like health, education and even agriculture so that you can establish a foundation for food security. And now the issue of food security is not just a policy, it is now part of the amendment that the 9th NASS have done.
It means that food security and food supply is a constitutional right of Nigerians today. The government can be taken to court for allowing anybody to starve under the constitution. It is there now on the new amendment so it’s no more businesse as usual. If any Nigerian dies of hunger, the government of the day can be taken to court and people can now seek redress. So there is right to food as part of human right of Nigerians enshrined in the constitution. So if you are saying there’s fuel subsidy, I hope there is not, we hope that the resources that are going to be released as a result of removal of subsidy are going to be used to make no Nigeria die of hunger.
On the leadership tussle over the issue of principal officers of the 10th Senate, the Kebbi born politician said the best thing is for the Tinubu and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to allow the Senators to choose their leadership rather than impose leadership on them.
He said Senate must first be united because if it is no united as an institution, public policy is possibly going to collapse because the Senate is the institution that partners with the executive arm of government most of the times together with the House of Representatives.
What is the use of someone as the Senate president of the 10th Senate if they don’t command the respect and the support of the members of the institution. Senate as it is, from when we came in upti.the time we finished our four years, there has never been anytime when you found that we are not working together. In fact, when you see us outside, you will not know which party we belong to because everybody has been given his due and everybody is respected and recognised. So for me, the most important thing is to make sure that you allow the Senators to choose its own leadership and Senate leadership is by election anyway. And most of the people who are Senators are very experienced people. Some of them are past governors, some have been ministers and people who have excelled in their various callings. They are not just people who were picked on the streets. So you don’t sit down and denigrate anyone of them when you dig deep or even on the surface, you will find out that these people are accomplished individuals, so you don’t treat those kind of individuals as babies or put them in the background. Everybody in the Senate is important so that is the way to go. Give the Senators the due respect, let them sit down, work together.
