Petrol Subsidy Return Will Deepen Poverty, Warns NOA Boss

The director-general of the National Orientation Agency (NOA), Lanre Issa-Onilu, has cautioned against the return of the petrol subsidy regime, asserting that it will exacerbate poverty in Nigeria.

Issa-Onilu spoke amid the ongoing #EndBadGovernance nationwide protests, where citizens were demanding the reinstatement of the petrol subsidy, among others.

Speaking on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Wednesday, which was monitored by our correspondent, the former spokesperson for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) argued that the demand for the return of the subsidy was more emotional than economic.

“Anybody who is making a demand that subsidy removal should be brought back is making an emotional demand, not an economic demand because you have to also prove that if it is brought back, it will solve the issue of poverty; it will not, it will aggravate it,” the NOA boss stated.

Issa-Onilu urged Nigerians to adopt survival strategies to cope with the economic challenges following the subsidy removal by President Bola Tinubu-led administration. “So, what we should be doing is: How do we survive in spite of the removal? We need to promote all the efforts of this government to ensure that we survive without that subsidy,” he added.

He acknowledged the deep-seated mistrust between the government and the citizens due to a history of unfulfilled promises. “It is difficult to talk to people who have for several years been let down. Nigerians feel let down. The first question they ask you is: ‘Is this another promise that will not be kept?’ So, we must prove to Nigerians that this government is keeping to its promises,” Issa-Onilu admitted.

LEADERSHIP recalls that President Tinubu, in a national broadcast last Sunday, reaffirmed that the subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), commonly known as petrol, will not be reinstated. This decision, announced during his inauguration on May 29, 2023, has led to significant economic shifts, with petrol prices skyrocketing from N184 to over N700 per litre and the naira’s value plummeting from $1/N700 to over $1/N1600 in the parallel market.

LEADERSHIP also reports that the removal of the subsidy has triggered widespread inflation, causing the prices of food and basic commodities to soar. Protesters have listed several demands, including the restoration of the petrol subsidy, addressing food shortages and unemployment, reducing government waste, and implementing reforms in the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).