Catholic missionary priest serving in The Gambia, Rev. Fr. Kelvin Ugwu, has criticised President Bola Tinubu’s 30-day petrol discount initiative, describing the president as a “weapon fashioned against Nigerians.”
Ugwu said the initiative, announced during the election season, had raised questions about the transparency and implementation of the temporary fuel price reduction.
In a post on Facebook, the priest said he had returned to his previous publications opposing the removal of fuel subsidy to highlight his longstanding position on the policy.
Ugwu questioned how the government would identify commercial transporters eligible for the discount and determine the quantity of fuel each beneficiary could purchase.
The priest also expressed concern about the transparency of the initiative, alleging that Nigerians might not directly benefit from the discount while the government could later announce the amount spent on it.
Ugwu further criticised Nigerians for, in his view, focusing on issues he considered unrelated to the country’s challenges instead of holding the government accountable.
He wrote: “All I do now is to go back to all the posts I have written against the removal of fuel subsidy and share them.
“It is election season, they have now come up with a 30-day discount for fuel. You know the funniest part? you won’t see the discount, because there is no clear definition of who is a commercial transporter and what quantity can one buy… but just wait, you will hear how much was spent on the discount. The money is for them.
“As I said, Tinubu is the weapon fashioned against Nigerians, but we are busy searching for what doesn’t concern us to cast and bind.”
