NANS Opposes Calls For Return Of Fuel Subsidy

The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has urged Nigerians, particularly youths, to reject calls by some politicians for the reintroduction of fuel subsidy, saying the focus should instead be on ensuring accountability in the management of funds saved from its removal.

The National President of NANS, Babatunde Akinteye, made the call on Tuesday in Akure, Ondo State, while speaking at a youth summit sponsored by the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo.

The summit was themed: “Unlocking Ondo State Students’ Potentials for Economic Growth.”

Akinteye said Nigeria had operated the fuel subsidy regime for about four decades, during which successive administrations, economists and policy analysts had consistently acknowledged that the policy was financially unsustainable.

He argued that rather than advocating a return to subsidy payments, Nigerians should demand transparency and accountability in the utilisation of the resources saved from the policy’s removal.

“We should monitor the money being saved from the removal of fuel subsidy and ensure it is channelled into projects and programmes that benefit all Nigerians instead of returning to a system where a few individuals cornered resources meant for the entire country,” he said.

The NANS president recalled that Nigerians continued to experience persistent fuel scarcity during the subsidy era despite the huge sums spent by successive governments to sustain the policy.

He also attributed the recent increase in petrol prices partly to the Iran-United States conflict, noting that fuel prices had begun to decline before the conflict erupted.

Akinteye questioned the source of funding for any attempt to restore the subsidy, warning that such a move would impose an unsustainable financial burden on the country.

“Previous administrations often resorted to borrowing to finance fuel subsidy and, in some instances, to pay workers’ salaries.

“Today, loans are largely tied to specific capital projects rather than recurrent expenditure such as salaries or fuel subsidy. We should not return to that era,” he said.

The student leader urged politicians seeking elective office to present practical plans on how the savings from subsidy removal would be invested to improve the welfare of Nigerians rather than promising to restore the subsidy.

He cited the Nigerian Education Loan Fund as one of the intervention programmes that, according to him, had benefited many students since the removal of the subsidy.

Akinteye further noted that provisions for fuel subsidy payments had already been discontinued in the 2023 Appropriation Bill prepared under the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari.

He said both the previous and current administrations had maintained that the subsidy regime was unsustainable.

According to him, proposals by some political actors to reintroduce the subsidy amounted to political rhetoric rather than a realistic economic policy.

“Focus should remain on ensuring that savings from subsidy removal are prudently managed for national development rather than returning to a policy that had proved unsustainable,” he stated.

LEADERSHIP reports that the development comes amid renewed political debate over the future of fuel subsidy and the economic reforms of the Bola Tinubu administration.

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has criticised former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar’s proposal to restore fuel subsidy, while the African Democratic Congress (ADC) has challenged the federal government to account for the N15.8trillion in additional revenue it said accrued from the reforms.

The APC National Chairman, Prof Nentawe Yilwatda, warned that a return to the old fuel subsidy regime could reverse economic gains recorded under the ongoing reforms, with consequences for workers’ wages, education, infrastructure and the fiscal stability of states.

Yilwatda, in a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media and Information Strategy, Abimbola Tooki, said reinstating the subsidy could return the country to the era of fuel queues, threaten the payment of the current minimum wage and lead to the cancellation of education grants for Nigerian students, among other consequences.