Governor Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna State and his Anambra counterpart, Prof. Charles Soludo, have urged the federal government to end the fuel subsidy regime, which has negatively affected Nigeria’s economy.
The governors made the call on Tuesday in Abuja during a panel session at the policy conversation on “How Nigeria Can Build a Post-Oil Economic Future.”
The symposium was jointly hosted by Agora Policy, a Nigerian Think Tank and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
el-Rufai emphasised the need to end the subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) known as fuel and to be pragmatic about solution to the problems instead of delay.
He recalled that in 2021, the National Economic Council (NEC) gave a committee he chaired an assignment to work out a framework on what to do with the resources if subsidy was removed including how much to be raised.
He listed the components of its recommendation to include a framework on investments in security, social protection, and infrastructure on health and education, among others.
“We worked with experts and World Bank and came out with a report on what to do with the resources which would be transparently explained to Nigerians.
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“In 2021, the Federal Government’s budget for road was N200 billion, and in 2021, we were projecting to spend N1.2 trillion on subsidy, and we saw the danger, and I called for its removal.
“We have a framework, and the economic council agreed for it to be withdrawn because we had a clear plan on where the money should go, which includes federal, state, and local government for interventions.
“Still it is on and currently we are looking at N6 trillion on subsidy but go and check the national budget on infrastructure on health and education, it is not up to that and does not make any sense, so we need to end the subsidy,” he advised
On his part, Soludo called for a transformational leadership and agenda, adding that the new dispensation had a chance for a fresh start.
“It has to start by getting the team assembled and getting to work immediately with institutional reforms and competitive systems.
“It will be necessary if we begin to mainstream case studies and utilise lessons from those case studies that worked before by replicating them,” he said.
The governor said that productive policies to achieve speed and sustainability prosperity for institutional reforms and change were the key.
Speaking, Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, Co-Founder, the Aig-Imoukhuede Foundation and Chairman, Coronation Capital, explained that the fuel subsidy was not grounded on thinking rather it was purely political.
According to him, refining crude oil and producing refined petroleum products in Nigeria would actually drop the prices of petroleum.
He further explained that fiscal consideration, debt restructuring, and massive private structure investment should be considered by the incoming government for economic growth.
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