The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, has blasted former vice president, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar for condemning the Buhari administration's decision to remove fuel subsidy. He accused Atiku of hypocrisy, saying Atiku would have done the same if he were president.
Silver made the statement in response to a question during an an Interview with Daily Sun.
Asked whether Atiku's opposition to the removal of subsidy is hypocritical, he said, "Of course, it is very clear to everyone, including yourself, that he is playing to the gallery. What other solution does he have?
"This is somebody that already told Nigerians that if he was president he would have sold NNPC. Didn’t he say so before? That is, he would have commercialised NNPC. Would he have been operating subsidy in an NNPC that had been commercialised?
"So, we should be very careful with some of these leaders who speak from both sides of the mouth because today they are on the wrong side of the divide. He said and he swore that he was going to sell NNPC. That means NNPC was going to be privatised. So, a privatised NNPC would have still been subsidising? That meant that he never ever thought one day of keeping subsidy, if he were President.
"Today, what other policy direction does he have? Has he suggested something else? He did not suggest something else. He is just playing to the gallery. Is he even here while he is saying this? Is he in Nigeria? I am sure he is not.
"He is probably enjoying himself in some beautiful island somewhere, vacationing, his legs crossed, and you believe him? You cannot believe people like that.
"What I am saying here today, is it wrong? This is in the interest of Nigerians; let us not follow these politicians who want to politicise everything. At this time of our national life, we should jettison politics and try to salvage the national economy first, which is at risk now, in our best interest."