ActionAid Nigeria (AAN) has expressed concern that the removal of fuel subsidy in Nigeria presents a huge challenge, saying hardship has been reported from different parts of the country.
The country-director, Ene Obi while briefing newsmen in Abuja, said a critical underlining negative impact of the removal of petrol subsidy is that it is certainly going to widen poverty bracket in Nigeria, particularly amongst the poor masses and the excluded citizens with the ravaging unemployed youth.
Ene Obi represented by the Director of Resource Mobilization, ActionAid Nigeria,Andrew Mamedu explained that the President made a far-reaching statement “Subsidy is gone”-concerning the subsidy regime of the country which immediately plunged the already impoverished Nigerians into untold hardship.
He said this statement was welcomed with reckless reactions by many unscrupulous oil marketers – hoarding petrol products and in many cases, selling petroleum products at unregulated prices.
“Less than 48hours after the inauguration speech, the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation Ltd jumped on the President’s announcement and released a national price list for Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) – capping the new price between 488-550 naira per liter.
He urged the Government to resuscitate the four refineries to create more jobs to engage the volume of young people of Nigeria!
In his words, “We need to first establish, review and investigate what makes up this subsidy with citizens, organized labour involved, CSOs and stakeholders in a transparent investigative process, as government inefficiencies should not be passed to the citizens as subsidy.
“Review the Social Protection programme for the most vulnerable which was started by the past administration. Remember that the survey on multi-dimensional survey by the National Bureau of Statistics stated that more than 133m Nigerians live below the poverty line.
“This was before the flooding last year that affected more than 31 states. Government must also ensure that women, young persons and Persons with Disability are specially considered in the Social Protection Programme.
“Promote alternative energy sources like Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) to reduce the reliance on petrol by all. Immediately provide affordable and safe public transportation system across the country.
“ActionAid Nigeria stands firm in our commitment to advocate for the protection of the most vulnerable and marginalized during this transition.
“We call on the government to prioritize social protection measures, invest in critical sectors, and ensure transparency in the utilization of saved resources,” he said.
