Petrol Subsidy in Nigeria Is an Organized Crime – Peter Obi
The Labour Party Presidential Candidate, Peter Obi, has said that petrol subsidy in Nigeria is an organized crime.
However, he says he would have also removed it as the President of Nigeria. But he faulted the approach adopted by the Tinubu administration in removing the petrol subsidy.
The presidential candidate, speaking on a television programme on Monday, said the subsidy ought to have been removed in an organized manner with palliatives properly structured.
According to Obi, Tinubu was introducing the palliatives haphazardly, and bringing untold suffering to Nigerians.
The former Anambra State Governor, during the programme monitored by SaharaReporters, said, “Let me reiterate my position, and I say it, fuel subsidy is organized crime as it was being practiced. In my tweets of September 19, 2022, and in my manifesto, it showed clearly the way we would have approached it. “Fuel Subsidy is an organized crime. I have said this repeatedly that it should be removed.
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Governor Isah Yaguda, in his recent interview, stated that a friend of his involved in fuel subsidy, gains, and everything, informed him that even criminals were tired of profiting from such criminal activities; thus, it should be removed. This underscores the existence of a criminal aspect to it.
Since the subsidy has been removed, our consumption is now only about half of what it used to be.
In my view, the approach should have been to eliminate the corruption and criminal elements while addressing the excess demand that lacks factual basis.
By taking these steps, you could have reduced it by 50 per cent.
The remaining 50 per cent could have been gradually phased out through consultations with various stakeholders, following an organized approach.
The proceeds or gains from removal could then have been invested in critical development areas such as education, health, and poverty alleviation.
When you execute this process in an organized manner, with well-structured and carefully considered palliatives, rather than haphazardly, you would have garnered the support of Nigerians.
One of the issues we are grappling with due to this sudden announcement is what I would term the “announcement effect.” Policies like these should not be hastily announced; they require thorough deliberation and planning. This is the approach we would have taken as the Labour Party.