Bayo Onanuga, one of the aides to President Bola Tinubu, has lamented that the federal government under ex-President Muhammadu Buhari plunged Nigeria into N77 trillion debt and has been using 96 per cent of revenue for debt servicing. 

Mr Onanuga, disclosed this in a statement shared on his social pages Friday, explaining and justifying the sudden fuel subsidy removal led to the announcement of a nationwide protest planned for Wednesday by the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC). 

“The Federal Government which already commits 96 per cent of its revenue in servicing debt is not in any position to continue selling subsidised fuel, most of which is smuggled across our borders for criminal and obscenely unpatriotic profit.

“Subsidy of fuel is no longer unsustainable as the FG is virtually broke. Apart from its N77 trillion debt, it also owes the NNPC Limited about N2.4 trillion for past subsidies,” Mr Onanuga wrote.

Mr Onanuga’s lamentation comes a few days after Mr Tinubu said he should not be pitied for he is aware of the issues confronting the country before vying to be President.

Mr Tinubu, in his inaugural speech on May 29, said “subsidy is gone”. His pronouncement triggered panic across the country as citizens rushed to buy fuel while oil marketers suddenly increased pump price.

On May 31, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) announced pump price increment that saw petrol price skyrocket from N195 to over N500 nationwide.