Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, has prevented members of the Green Chamber from debating the removal of the fuel subsidy. Though, the current budget has no provision for fuel subsidy, President Bola Tinubu gave more life to it when he proclaimed fuel subsidy officially “gone” on Monday. The president had, in his inaugural speech, said fuel subsidy was gone saying proceeds from the decision would be channelled towards improving the lives of Nigerians in the areas of agriculture, health, education and security. But on the floor of the lower chamber of the National Assembly on Tuesday, members had sought to raise debate on the matter but the Speaker said since he had struck his gavel, there was no longer opportunity for anyone else to speak on the matter. Analysts believe the Speaker’s action was to prevent opposition elements in the House from condemning the removal of the subsidy. A member of the House from Lagos state, Hon. Jide Jimoh, had said that the pronouncement by Tinubu was consistent with the law as the Appropriation Act did not provide for subsidy. Moving the motion, Mr Jimoh said the president is “a concern senior citizen whose agenda is to favour the downtrodden for the purpose of humanity.”
There is “no provision for fuel subsidy in the 2023 Appropriation Act,” he said. After Jimoh, the Speaker had stopped further debates which did not go down well with some other members of the House. A member from Imo State, Ugonna Ozurigbo (PDP) while raising a point of order, said those who sent him to represent them from Imo State expected him to state their positions on the matter. Gbajabiamila however said any further debate, even if allowed , would not be relevant. He said, “There is no breach of privilege. We have hit the gravel, and we cannot go back. As we go along, for anyone that wants to speak on the issue of subsidy, I am giving the leeway even though it would fall on the sword of relevance, and may not be relevant to be talking about subsidy on another motion. But you can go ahead to talk about subsidy after talking about the issue at hand.” The president’s announcement on Monday had caused some panic with many filling stations shutting down against customers.