Stakeholders in the oil and gas sector and other Nigerians yesterday declared that the fuel subsidy removal by the President Bola Tinubu-led administration was long overdue. They however appealed to Tinubu to engage Nigerians before implementing the policy.
In a reaction to the president’s inaugural speech where he said fuel subsidy was gone, a former secretary-general of Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Worker (NUPENG) Chief Frank Ovie-Kokori said, “It is going to be tough; the issue is that Nigerians have not actually enjoy the subsidy, it was going into private pocket.”
“They are just wasting those trillions of Naira set aside as subsidies, when the government does not have money. The whole fuel is smuggled round the whole of West Africa. It is a tough decision but Nigerians need to brace themselves to get it done.
“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, being a tax expert, should have an alternative way to cushion the effect for the masses. It is going to be tough initially, but I don’t see the government just removing everything at the same swoop, because if government do that it go up to 500 or 600 trillion, we can’t manage it, nobody can manage, nobody can manage the type of revolt ,so they must be very careful but the subsidy should go,” he said.
The national co -spokesperson for Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP), Comrade Mark Adebayo said, “The removal of fuel subsidy is a good riddance to bad rubbish, all this back and forth for over two decades. The government has already had excuses why things are not working in the country, why institutions are not functioning, why education is going backwards, why salaries are not being paid or delayed and why the nation has been having epileptic economic performance. This has been blamed on payment of fuel subsidy.
“The subsidy has assumed the image of amorphous evil that subsequent governments were unable to deal with. We don’t want this kind of excuse anymore. All of us now know that the fuel subsidy was a cash cow for some people, for some business men who are not patriotic about Nigeria, they are only concerned about themselves. If that is the case, the excuse the government has been giving is that, they remove it today, next tomorrow, let it be removed as the new administration has done.
“The implication on the economy, the immediate impact is likely to be inflation. You will see that prices of goods will go up; it will affect the cost of transportation that will be the major impact of it. It will be painful to the masses; it will have a major impact. Sincerely speaking no benefit of the removal comes to mind right now.’’
He said though it is a good intervention by the government of Nigeria, it was hijacked by the criminal elements within the oil industry.
“So, we can no longer continue with that, so we should face the reality. It is not a pleasant action for the government to take but it is long overdue, is it necessary, I think it is necessary. The pain we have been avoiding for over two decades, we will now experience it. It has happened and the masses will be at the receiving end.
“I believe it is one of the traps set for the new administration by the outgone administration. The level of economic decadence and the horrendous debt profile and menace of insecurity may make things tough for the new administration,” he said.
For Comrade Femi Lawson, ‘’While it sounds like a bold decision on the part of President Bola Tinubu, for that being said in his inauguration speech, this has definitely come as a surprise to the majority of Nigerians.
“Even though it is clear that the immediate past administration had already created the path towards the removal of fuel subsidy, Nigerians were expecting some form of engagement from the President Bola Tinubu administration, in order to spell out measures that they intend to take, in cushioning the effect that the subsidy removal will have on the overwhelming majority of our people. Therefore, this decision will come with a lot of pain, and the new administration, must be ready to engage Nigerians as soon as possible, in order to avoid starting on a note of controversy and dispute with Nigerians.’’
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