Human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, has criticised President Bola Tinubu’s removal of fuel subsidy, describing the policy as an economic misstep that has worsened hardship across the country.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Sunday, Falana, who was a prominent figure during the 2012 Occupy Nigeria protests, said no nation has entirely abolished subsidies.
He argued that even advanced economies such as the United States, the United Kingdom, and France subsidise critical sectors like electricity and agriculture to protect citizens.
“I have always been against fuel subsidy removal since 2012. No country in the world has abolished subsidies completely,” he said, accusing the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank of dictating Nigeria’s economic direction.
He warned that Nigeria’s reliance on prescriptions from international financial institutions, including subsidy removal and naira devaluation, has deepened poverty and fuelled social tension.
According to Falana, the administration must adopt a holistic economic strategy rather than implementing IMF-driven policies piecemeal.
“You cannot devalue the currency, dollarise the economy, and at the same time remove subsidies. It is damaging for an import-dependent economy like ours,” he cautioned.
The lawyer also condemned the growing dollarisation of transactions in Nigeria, including school fees, property sales, and even bribes.
He faulted President Tinubu’s recent practice of rewarding athletes with cash gifts in foreign currency, stressing that the Naira remains the only legal tender under Nigerian law.
As a way forward, Falana urged the government to strengthen the Naira and consider joining the BRICS bloc to reduce dependence on Western institutions and the U.S. dollar.
“Our administration must muster the courage to tell these Western institutions that no country has succeeded by following their prescriptions.
We must promote the Naira because once you devalue your currency in an import-oriented economy, you are destroying it,” he added.