Economist Kalu Aja has publicly apologised to Nigerians for initially supporting the removal of the fuel subsidy by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Aja stated: “I have to apologise for supporting the removal of the PMS subsidy by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. The policy is right; removal of the PMS subsidy is a revenue event.
“My assumption and hope were that removing the PMS subsidy would free up fiscal resources to rebuild Nigeria’s infrastructure and educate the millions of children roaming the streets.”
However, Aja expressed disappointment in the government’s spending patterns. “Based on the results of the first half of 2025, that hope will not be realised with this administration at the current spending trajectory.
“President Bola Tinubu is borrowing and spending far in excess of revenues, but not on infrastructure; he is slowly sinking into a debt trap,” he wrote.
He added: “There is no defence for earning N10.92 trillion in cash, borrowing an additional N6.1 trillion, bringing the total funds available in HY 2025 to N16 trillion, and then allocating just N393 billion for Federal Capital Projects across Nigeria. That’s less than 3%.”
Aja also compared the figures with previous administrations. “In 2024, N20 trillion was earned as cash, another N12 trillion was borrowed, bringing the total available to N32 trillion, yet only N6 trillion was allocated to capital expenditure.
“For context, in 2021, President Buhari raised N4.6 trillion in cash and borrowed N4.5 trillion, bringing the total cash to N9.1 trillion. N3.08 trillion was released as cash for CAPEX, about 34%.”
He concluded by criticising those defending the current spending pattern: “It’s gross fiscal irresponsibility. Those who defend this are either asleep or paid.”
