Labour Party presidential candidate in the 2023 elections, Peter Obi, has reiterated his stance on fuel subsidy removal and the floating of the Naira, stating that, unlike the current administration, he would have implemented both policies in a more organised and structured manner.
Speaking in a recent interview with ARISE NEWS, Obi addressed growing concerns about his economic policies and clarified his stance on key reforms, drawing a sharp contrast between his approach and that of President Bola Tinubu.
“I have consistently maintained that I would have removed the fuel subsidy,” Obi said, pointing to his campaign manifesto. “If you go to my manifesto, it’s there. Steps I would have taken to do it in an organised manner. There was nothing wrong in the removal of subsidy. What is wrong is the haphazard way in which it was announced and implemented. Everybody knows that the subsidy regime was a solution of criminality. There was a lot of corruption, which they needed to get out of. Do it in an organised manner.”
He added, “And since you’re doing it for savings, we’re told we’re doing it because we don’t want to continue to borrow, to continue the subsidy. And the removal of it will be able to have available funds to be invested in critical areas of development. With all these things, billions saved, where is it? Where is it invested in those critical areas of development?”
Obi also weighed in on the floating of the naira, saying, “There’s nothing wrong with floating your currency. There’s nothing wrong with even devaluing your currency. But you do this when you have productivity. What devaluation or floating does is that your currency becomes, in terms of value, low. You attract investment. Your products become more marketable. But where we are unproductive, you have nothing to sell. So it’s a double whammy. So in all this, I would have done the same thing in an organised manner,” Obi noted.
What you should know
In his inaugural address on May 29, 2023, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu unveiled a bold and transformative policy designed to alleviate the mounting financial pressures on Nigeria’s government.
“Fuel subsidy is gone,” Tinubu announced, sending a clear message of his administration’s commitment to economic reform during his inaugural speech.
- For years, the subsidy, introduced in the 1970s, has been a contentious issue. Despite Nigeria’s status as Africa’s largest oil producer, the country struggles to refine enough crude oil to meet local demand. As a result, Nigeria imports most of its petroleum products, which were sold at subsidized rates set by the government.
- While the subsidy kept fuel prices artificially low for consumers, it placed an enormous strain on public finances. In 2022 alone, the subsidy consumed a staggering 4.3 trillion naira. For the first half of 2023, another 3.36 trillion naira had already been earmarked for subsidy payments.
- Previous Nigerian administrations made attempts to remove the subsidy but faced significant pushback, with protests and labor strikes often forcing a reversal of the policy. Tinubu’s announcement, however, signals a determination to tackle one of the nation’s most pressing financial burdens.
