Three years after President Bola Tinubu pulled the plug on fuel subsidy, the appropriateness and timeliness of the decision, and the economics of energy subsidies, are shaping 2027 electioneering. This is because the Federal Government has grossly underdelivered on the major promises it made to Nigerians after the unpopular decision. With the glaring failure of one of this administration’s major hallmarks and the concomitant harsh impact on the impoverished populace, subsidy removal has, for the umpteenth time, become a major pre-election talking point. ISAAC CHIBUIFE reports that productive investment and social protection, which would have eventually improved welfare, are lacking, while the initiative, some say, has achieved a measure of fiscal success.

Mary Ododo earns N100,000 a month as a front-desk officer at a small private school in Jakande Estate, Isolo, Lagos. Her salary is 25 per cent higher than the N80,000 that she earned in May 2023, when President Bola Tinubu announced the removal of fuel subsidy.

Yet, by every practical measure, she is poorer. When the subsidy on petrol was removed, Ododo was single, and her monthly income covered most of her basic needs. She spent about N16,000 a month on transportation. But three years later, she is a single mother caring for a child. She has school fees to pay every term and has set aside N300,000 so far this year towards rent for a shared apartment. Her daily transportation from her home in Mafoluku to Isolo now averages N2,500, meaning 50 per cent of her earnings go to transportation alone each month. This leaves her with N50,000 for monthly expenses that sometimes exceed her entire salary.

Ododo’s experience mirrors that of Opeyemi Bello, who lives in the Ikorodu area of Lagos and works on Lagos Island. Before the subsidy removal, he spent about N800 a day on commuting. Today, the same journey costs between N2,500 and N3,000 or an average of N60,500 monthly.

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