We expected riots, NGF chairman recalls anxiety over Tinubu’s subsidy removal

Kwara State Governor and chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum, AbdulRahman-AbdulRazaq. Photo: Kwara State Govt

The chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum, AbdulRahman Abdulrazaq, has revealed that governors deployed security agencies across all states and convened emergency security council meetings ahead of the 2023 fuel subsidy removal, convinced that the policy would trigger widespread riots but not a single protest occurred.

Abdulrazaq, who is also the Kwara State governor, made the disclosure during a meeting with President Bola Tinubu and other state governors on Friday, at Tinubu’s residence in Lagos.

He said governors first learnt of the subsidy removal through calls from the National Security Adviser and the Director-General of the Department of State Services while on a trip to China, with both officials stating there was no going back.

“We went into panic mode. I sent a message to my colleagues at the NGF and nobody wanted to hear that,” he said.