Ex-Governor Adams Oshiomhole has justified the decision of President Bola Tinubu to announce the removal of fuel subsidy.

“During the last fuel crisis, I found myself paying N1,000 for a litre somewhere in Edo state, where I ran out of fuel and had to refuel in order to get back home,” Mr Oshiomhole stated. “I wasn’t the only one. Many people. You find people sleeping in the petrol stations.”

Mr Tinubu’s “subsidy is gone” pronouncement triggered a sudden surge in petrol pump price and panic buying across Nigeria.

Petrol pump prices now range from N488 to N540. Some areas reported that the pump price of petrol rose as high as N1,200.

Mr Oshiomhole told Channels TV Sunday night that the new president’s declaration was in order when asked if Mr Tinubu had carefully considered his “subsidy is gone” statement.

“It is not a sudden withdrawal because at the time the budget was announced, subsidy will end in June,” stated the former Edo governor.

The former NLC leader added, “Whether you reverse the policy today and bring it back in June, what is the difference? You know that assuming that the government announced that today the policy had been reversed until June, marketers will start hoarding, and the price will go even higher.”

Mr Oshiomhole, who led several protests against petrol price hikes, likened fuel subsidy removal to a life-saving surgery, admitting that “the response of NLC is legitimate.”

“Namely, this decision will lead to a higher cost of living. My take-home pay can no longer take me home. In leadership, you have to take tough but necessary decisions in order to save the patient,” explained the former Edo governor.

The ex-NLC president added, “When doctors carry out surgery, they know that there will be some pain, but the surgery is necessary to keep the patient alive. He would suffer pain in the short run, but in the long run, you hope that he would live longer. I think those are the issues not about whether you talk properly or you did it properly.”

NLC will go on a nationwide strike against sudden fuel subsidy removal without provisions for palliatives to cushion the effects of subsidy removal on the masses.

The National Union of Electricity Employees and Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria are expected to join the protest on Wednesday.