Former All Progressive Congress (APC), Presidential Campaign Council Director of Election Manage­ment, Planning, and Monitoring, Theodore Ekechi has described President Bola Tinubu’s inaugural announce­ment of fuel subsidy removal as hasty, without proper con­sultation, but done in the right direction.

According to him, the govern­ment’s position was a welcome development, as Ekechi ex­plained that the president should have consulted widely before the inauguration announcement.

He also lamented that the subsidy was a scam used to fleece the country of trillions of Naira, and as such, needed to be removed.

The former Commissioner of Information and Strategy in Imo state and member representing South East on the Board of the North East Development Com­mission, in a telephone interview on the state of the nation, argued that previous governments as well as presidential candidates of February 25th election had always agreed that subsidy was a fraud and should be jettisoned.

“My reaction first of all is, let us define the issue and react to the issue. From Jonathan till now every administration had agreed that subsidy is a scam in Nigeria.

“Almost all the presidential candidates agree that subsidy is a scam running into trillions of Naira over a decade now and should go. A subsidy is not something that is good for Ni­geria, being a scam it should be removed. President Tinibu did the right thing.

“The question is how to manage it. My view is to let the Federal government isolate one portion or percent that goes to private individual pockets, for me that is the portion that must be reinvested into the economy and make sure that it doesn’t not go into the private pockets. That’s what should be boarding Nigeri­ans and the Labour.”