FUEL SUBSIDY REMOVAL: THE ATIKU PERSPECTIVE


There is a popular saying that "misery loves company". For the benefit of this essay, I would like to be given the permission to rephrase that saying to- "failure loves company".

Following the unprecedented hardship inflicted on Nigerians by the ill-timed removal of fuel subsidy without commensurate measures to cushion its consequences and the attendant uproar that greeted that iniquitous decision, the media space has been inundated with the narrative by APC propagandists that almost every other Presidential candidate promised to get rid of the scourge called fuel subsidy.

At best, that disposition can be described as a presumptuous and mischievous attempt to give some sort of legitimacy to a policy devoid of wisdom, empathy and prudence; especially at a time when the nation's economy is on the brink of haemorrhage.

Whilst I can't categorically speak for the other Presidential candidates, the Peoples Democratic Party standard-bearer for the 2023 elections; Alh. Atiku Abubakar's manifesto is encapsulated in a policy document which is in the public domain. Aptly titled "My Covenant with Nigerians", no part of that blueprint suggests that the Former Vice President will remove fuel subsidy without first addressing its multiple causes and effects.

Speaking at the Lagos Business School 2022 Alumni day before the presidential election, the Former Vice President said- “I was the chairman for the removal of the fuel subsidy committee and I recall how we removed phase 1 and phase 2 of the fuel subsidy." This corroborates his stance that decisions of such magnitude must be given a human face.

In response to the reckless removal of fuel subsidy by the Tinubu administration on the 29th of May, Atiku again pronounced thus- “We achieved fuel subsidy in two phases but only after providing palliatives to those most affected by the subsidy removal."

“We have the experience as the party and a government, and that is what we would have done, not just announce subsidy removal without discussions with the affected sectors of the economy. I think Nigerians should appreciate what they have temporarily lost”.

Furthermore, Atiku's posture on privatization is well known. He has repeatedly emphasized that the safest way out of this subsidy lacuna is to privatize all the refineries and make the proceeds of the sales available to fund small and medium scale enterprises as part of his plans to reinvigorate the Nigerian economy. With this move, we will be able to kill three birds with one stone.

First, by converting assets that have become liabilities and drainpipes on the resources of the country into a pool of funds that will be available to uplift millions of Nigerians out of poverty. Secondly, to increase the output of local production to meet the nation's fuel consumption needs and hence, reducing the strain on the local currency as occasioned by the importation of fuel. This can only be achieved by putting the moribund refineries in the hands of well equipped private investors.

Thirdly and most importantly, millions of jobs will be created by the resuscitation of those refineries and the billions of taxpayers monies being expended on "Turn Around Maintenance" can be channeled into other priority needs.

Without these measures firmly in place, removal of fuel subsidy amounts to counting chickens before they are hatched. Truth be told, only Atiku's manifesto embodies the roadmap and incubation period for Nigeria's renaissance.

Enough is enough of the APC distortions and misplacement of facts.

© Epiphany

The man that was ready for the job