Article summary
- An official of the ruling party, APC has assured Nigerians that President Tinubu will work out palliatives to cushion the effects of the fuel subsidy removal.
- While noting that Nigerians abroad are also feeling the pain, he appealed to Nigerians at home to be patient with the government.
- He emphasized that fuel should be available and more expensive than fuel scarcity.
An official of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Prof. Tai Balofin, has urged Nigerians to trust President Bola Tinubu to work out palliatives to cushion the effect of fuel subsidy removal.
Balofin, who is the Chairman of APC USA, stated this while speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday. According to him, the challenges that came with the development would soon be over.
He, therefore, appealed to Nigerians to be patient with Tinubu’s administration on the removal of fuel subsidies, adding that it was all in the country’s interest.
- “I just want to plead with all Nigerians to be patient and have an understanding of the situation,” Balofin said.
We feel the pain too
The APC USA chairman, while appealing to Nigerians to be patient with the government, said though they resided abroad, they felt the pains of Nigerians.
He added that Nigerians in the Diaspora could perfectly relate to the pains Nigerians were passing through back home.
He expressed confidence that the Federal Government under Tinubu was working a way around the situation.
- “I trust that the president will put some measures in place to cushion the effect of the subsidy removal so it does not go overboard,” he said.
Balofin, however, explained that in other countries, especially in the United States, the cost of fuel ranges from $3.40 to $3.50 per gallon when compared to what we buy in Nigeria.
- “Again, the important thing is that if there is fuel, even if it is expensive, it is going to balance the equilibrium as soon as possible.
- “But I trust President Tinubu is a strategic person who knows what to do and how to manage Nigerians and resources. I believe we will start enjoying the benefit any time soon,” he said.
He added that the decision to remove the subsidy was collectively taken by stakeholders, including members of the House of Representatives who had gone through the rudiments of the removal.
He said it was, therefore, the responsibility of the lawmakers to appeal to Nigerians about the positive impact of the removal.
The subsidy is an infectious enjoyment
Also, Mr Tunde Doherty, a chieftain of APC U.S.A, said the United Kingdom did not pay subsidies on its petroleum products.
He described petrol subsidy as an ‘infectious enjoyment’ that had been allowed to thrive for too long in Nigeria.
“We have to be very factual and truthful to Nigerians at the start of this regime, fuel subsidy has not helped us in any way.
- “Rather it has become a kind of infectious enjoyment in Nigeria because the determinant of pricing is the marketers.
- “Now that there is no subsidy, I agree that it might be very difficult for people at this time, but I can tell you that President Tinubu is in charge of the situation.
- “Within the next few months, he will cushion the effect of what Nigerians have suffered,” Doherty assured.
He said, in the United Kingdom and the United States, prices of petroleum products were not equal because there was no subsidy anywhere.
- “In the UK today, we have Costco Oil selling for £1.3 and we have Sabre (Oil and Gas) selling for £1.7. So it is a liberalized economy with petrol.
- “We cannot continue to let Nigerians suffer, we have to start by telling them the truth about oil subsidies. It does not take us anywhere. It is just pretentiously putting us in a future we cannot predict.
- “There is no subsidy where we live in the Diaspora and we enjoy fuel, we have never experienced fuel scarcity. The time for us to enjoy that Renewed Hope is here,” Doherty stressed.
President Tinubu on May 29 while delivering his inaugural speech, said the Federal Government could no longer sustain fuel subsidies.
With the removal of fuel subsidy, the petroleum pump price is now fixed at N540 per litre as against N195, a development the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) said it was opposing.
The NLC had said it would embark on a nationwide strike on Wednesday to force the government to reverse its decision.
The congress cautioned that it would not go back on its decision to down tools if the government and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited failed to reverse the increase of the price of petrol to its earlier price.