The chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF), AbdulRahman Abdulrazaq, disclosed that governors were concerned about a widespread riot after the 2023 fuel subsidy removal.
According to him, governors deployed security agencies across all states and convened emergency security council meetings.
He, however, stated that, contrary to expectations, no single protest occurred.
Naijaonpoint reports that the Kwara State governor made the disclosure during a meeting with President Bola Tinubu and other state governors on Friday, at Tinubu’s residence in Lagos.
He said governors first learnt of the subsidy removal through calls from the National Security Adviser and the Director-General of the Department of State Services while on a trip to China, with both officials stating there was no going back.
“We went into panic mode. I sent a message to my colleagues at the NGF, and nobody wanted to hear that,” he said.
He added that those present in China, including Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu and the Kaduna State Governor, met and resolved to seek a meeting with Tinubu to argue against the policy.
“We met and asked: how can this be implemented? It was impossible. There were phone calls back and forth to Nigeria, so we decided to book an appointment to see Mr. President and let him know that this could not work,” Abdulrazaq said.
The dinner that followed, however, did not go as planned.
“Mr President invited us for dinner, and we went. We sat down and listened to his vision for Nigeria and, at the end of the day, we could not even bring up the topic.
“We did not know whether he had gotten security reports about why we were coming for dinner, but we could not raise the issue,” he said.
On the fiscal impact, Abdulrazaq said states had previously been left with as little as ₦100m to ₦200m after paying salaries from their FAAC allocations, barely enough to build one kilometre of road, forcing them into bonds and loans to fund infrastructure.
“Today, states no longer need to borrow money or issue bonds. In fact, we are reducing our debt burden. Delta State has retired its debt, and we have reduced our debt by 40 per cent,” he said
He also cited the minimum wage increase as a further benefit and urged Tinubu to work with governors toward raising it to ₦100,000.
“Minimum wage has gone up, and most states are today paying close to ₦100,000. I urge Your Excellency to have a discussion on moving the minimum wage to a minimum of ₦100,000,” Abdulrazaq said.
