By Luminous Jannamike
ABUJA – The Director of Media and Publicity of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) Presidential Campaign Council, Kola Ologbondiyan, has challenged the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, to publish the economic model behind his warning that a return to fuel subsidy could push the naira to ₦4,000 per dollar.
Ologbondiyan accused the Federal Government of using fear to discourage debate on fuel subsidy, insisting that Nigerians deserve evidence, not alarming projections, on the potential economic consequences of restoring the policy.
Speaking to Vanguard, he described the minister’s warning as scaremongering and demanded that the government explain how it arrived at the projected exchange rate.
“The Minister of Finance is merely scaremongering. He cannot claim that a return to fuel subsidy will cause the naira to depreciate to ₦4,000 to the dollar without showing Nigerians the model behind that projection,” he said.
Ologbondiyan questioned the reliance on investors’ concerns to oppose a subsidy return, challenging the government to identify those behind the projections and disclose their calculations.
“They should show Nigerians who is making these claims and explain how they arrived at an exchange rate of ₦4,000 to the dollar if fuel subsidy is reintroduced,” he said.
He also argued that Nigeria was not the only country to consider or operate a production subsidy, maintaining that the proposal should be assessed on its economic merits rather than dismissed through dire forecasts.
“I do not believe this projection is realistic. It is fantasy,” he said.
Oyedele had warned that a return to fuel subsidy could send the naira to ₦4,000 per dollar, while also raising concerns about investors’ perception of the opposition.
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