From Noah Ebije, Kaduna
A group under the auspices of Coalition for Good Governance and Economic Development (CGGED) has thrown its weight behind President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the management of Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) for the fuel subsidy removal.
The group argued that the removal of the subsidy would allow the market forces of demand and supply to determine pump price of petroleum henceforth.
In a statement by the National Coordinator of the group, Comrade Usman Abdulkadir said the decision to support the removal of fuel subsidy was because its advantages suppassed the disadvantages in terms of business and economic development.
“Our decision to support the removal of fuel subsidy is because, we discovered from our findings that advantages of removing the fuel subsidy far outweighs the disadvantages business and economic development .
“We have also discovered that failure on side of previous administration to take decisive steps to stop importation of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) and outright removal of subsidy is highly responsible for recurring scarcity and fuel queues at our filling stations across the country .
“We there state categorically with dwindling economy and paucity of funds to run government that we can’t afford to continue to pay 1.2 Trillion naira monthly as fuel subsidy, when opening the market and removal subsidy will help save money that would used for sustainable development and quality service delivery.
“It is on this note that we are backing the pronouncement made by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) on the removal of fuel subsidy.
“It is no longer news that Nigerians woke up to watch and listen to shocking pronouncement by the President, in his inaugural address on Monday May 29, 2023 ,where he openly declared an end to the era of subsidy payment, saying the 2023 budget made no provision for fuel subsidy, so further payment was no longer justifiable.
“If there is no provisions made for fuel subsidy in the budget , how do we expect the current administration to pay for what is not appropriated for ? Any attempt to pay for subsidy now , will surely amount to breach law .More so, that government can’t withdraw money illegally to pay subsidy .
“We now understand why the Management of Engineer Mele Kyari led NNPCL during an emergency press conference held at the NNPC Towers, Abuja, told Nigerians that the move was in the best interest of the company.
“The Chief Executive Officer of the NNPCL revealed that the company has been spending a substantial amount of its profits in the subsidy of the product
“It is against this background that we insist on removal of subsidy and the money used to pay subsidy in the past be used for development of agricultural and industrial Sectors.
“We strongly believe that doing so will lead to high production of food and raw materials for industries as well as employment generation”. The statement said.
