Subsidy Removal Must Benefit Citizens, Not Wealthy Nigerians – NGF

The Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF), on Wednesday, said any action taken on fuel subsidy removal must directly benefit the people, and not just a few wealthy individuals and their cronies.

The forum’s chairman and Governor of Ekiti State, Kayode Fayemi, stated this when he met with the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC ) in Abuja.

Abdulrazaque Bello-Barkindo, Head, Media and Public Affairs, NGF in a statement on Wednesday in Abuja, quoted Fayemi as saying that the nation’s economy was at the precipice and that it had become necessary for the NGF and organised labour to verify the claim on fuel subsidy by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

According to Fayemi, governors must be part of the solution providers because subsidy removal has remained an on-going conversation.

“Nigerian governors cannot ignore the economics of petroleum, this is because all the countries surrounding Nigeria including Niger, Mali, Cameroon and Ghana have their fuel pump price that is equivalent to a U. S dollar, while Nigeria has a pump price that is far less than a dollar.”

He continued, “We need a partnership with the NLC to confront the challenges of what the NNPC is about, because there is a lot of fraud in the consumption and distribution figures that the country is getting.” NAN quoted him as saying.

Fayemi stressed that if the NLC engages all those who are knowledgeable in the field like PENGASSAN and conducts a thorough research into the sector there will be progress.

He, however, pleaded with NLC to jettison the decision to embark on nationwide protest.

Fayemi urged them to join hands with governors to consider the dimensions at play on the subsidy removal.