Former Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr Ibe Kachikwu, has disclosed that former President Muhammadu Buhari threatened to sack him if his attempt to remove Nigeria’s petrol subsidy backfired. Speaking during a virtual lecture organised by the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board on Monday, Kachikwu recounted the challenges he faced tackling nationwide fuel scarcity during his tenure.
He said, “The greatest challenge I had when I resumed as Group Managing Director of NNPC in 2015 was the issue of long queues at petrol stations. Very few Nigerians realise how traumatic it is for a minister or a GMD to wake up and find the entire country grounded.” Kachikwu revealed that despite efforts, much of the subsidised petrol was being smuggled out of the country.
Repeated requests to Buhari to review pump prices initially met resistance, with the former president holding a populist stance. Kachikwu said, “I went to the President very many times and said, ‘Look, I need to move up on price.’ He resisted very much… Eventually, he said, ‘Okay, you know what? I’ll leave you to take the risk. If it works, fine. If it doesn’t work, I fire you.’”
Introducing a “price modulation” policy aligned to global market prices, Kachikwu eliminated the subsidy and ended fuel queues within 48 hours. “That singular price adjustment removed the subsidy. Within 48 hours, every queue in the country disappeared.” He also refused to pay billions of naira in subsidy arrears due to lack of transparency, stating, “I could not audit the transparency of the subsidy claims.”
Kachikwu described the recent subsidy removal under President Bola Tinubu as inevitable but stressed that implementation should coincide with clear plans for refineries, infrastructure, transporters, and oil-producing communities.
