A member of the governing board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Olorogun Bernard Okumagba, has urged Nigerians to support President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on the removal of the lingering fuel subsidy on petrol.
According to Okumagba, ending the petrol subsidy regime is in Nigeria’s interest, appealing to all Nigerians to back President Tinubu’s commitment to rebuilding the nation’s economy, for the benefit of all Nigerians.
He made the plea in a statement made available to journalists in Warri, Delta State on Thursday.
The former Commissioner of Finance in Delta State said he was in support of President Tinubu’s position in his inaugural address where he stated that “we commend the decision of the outgoing administration in phasing out the petrol subsidy regime which has increasingly favoured the rich more than the poor.
“Subsidy can no longer justify its ever-increasing costs in the wake of drying resources. We shall instead re-channel the funds into better investment in public infrastructure, education, health care and jobs that will materially improve the lives of millions.”
According to Okumagba, the 2023 Budget only made provisions for petrol subsidy up till June 2023.
In effect, there is no appropriation for fuel subsidy beyond June 2023, he averred, adding that subsidy on petrol has already been phased out by the previous administration.
Okumagba, therefore, commended President Tinubu for implementing the policy as part of the government’s overall agenda to reboot the economy and make it productive for the benefit of all Nigerians.
“The truth is that the fuel subsidy regime has been a drainpipe on our resources and commonwealth.
“The subsidy regime created a class of corruptly wealthy businessmen and women and some public officers with whom they collude to inflate consumption figures that determine the rates of subsidy payments,” he disclosed.
He, however, urged the Federal Government to design and implement programmes that will cushion the effects of the subsidy removal on the masses.
Such programmes, he said, included a cash-transfer scheme targeted at the poor, reduction of excise taxes payable by citizens and subsidy of public transportation by buses, railways and waterways to free up the earnings of our citizens and increase their purchasing power.