Subsidy removal: Buhari didn’t set out to undermine Tinubu’s govt – Garba Shehu

A former Senior Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, has given clarification that there had never been any plan by the former president to undermine the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Shehu made this known on Tuesday in Abuja during a session with journalists ahead of the official unveiling of his book, “According to the President: Lessons from a Presidential Spokesperson’s Experience”, scheduled for public presentation on July 9.

There are discussions that President Buhari had delayed fuel subsidy removal untill the last national budget when he was on the verge of exiting power in 2023, to pitch Nigerians against President Tinubu.

But Shehu noted that those insinuations were baseless , emphasizing that “Subsidy removal was not planned to undermine the President Tinubu-led government.”

The former presidential spokesman said that Buhari and Tinubu were both members of the All Progressives Congress (APC), and wondered why Buhari couldn’t have possibly indulged in any action to hurt the incoming administration as if it was a transition of power from the APC to another political party.

“Both President Buhari and the incoming President, Bola Tinubu were members of the APC. So we couldn’t have planned to sabotage our own government,” he said.

“President Buhari was above corruption. He came to government with integrity and left with his integrity intact. He did his best. He did well for the country and history will be kind to him. President Buhari wasn’t a show man. He wanted his works to impact on Nigerians,” he added.

Shehu also averred that he personally did nothing wrong leaving his former principal, Atiku Abubakar, a former vice president, to serve in Buhari’s government.