The presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, Peter Obi, has defended the removal of fuel subsidy, saying the policy was necessary but criticising the Federal Government for allegedly failing to properly manage and invest the resources saved from it.
Obi spoke at the Nigerian Bar Association conference in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, where he said the proceeds from subsidy removal should have been channelled into productive sectors of the economy while providing measures to cushion its impact on Nigerians.
According to him, the problem was not the decision to remove the subsidy but the alleged mismanagement of the funds recovered from the policy.
“I subscribe and I maintain that we need to remove subsidy. Mismanagement of the proceeds should not be the reason for not removing it,” Obi said.
He argued that Nigerians should have been provided with tangible benefits from the savings generated by subsidy removal, including alternatives capable of reducing the hardship caused by increased fuel prices.
“What we should have done is that when we removed it, we should have given the people alternative usage for the subsidy,” he said.
The former presidential candidate accused the government of mismanaging and allegedly diverting the resources recovered from the policy.
“What we have today is that that removal and the attendant resources being recovered is also being mismanaged and stolen,” Obi alleged.
He said he had advocated during the 2023 presidential election for a structured approach to subsidy removal, insisting that the savings should have been properly accounted for and invested in areas capable of strengthening the economy and improving the welfare of Nigerians.
Obi maintained that while subsidy removal was necessary, the government should have accompanied the policy with effective investments and social interventions to mitigate its impact on citizens.
