8 May 2023
Ogun State governor, Dapo Abiodun on Wednesday led some major oil marketers on a courtesy call on Tinubu at the Presidential Villa, Abuja to express solidarity with the President for his bold decision to end subsidy payment.
The governor said himself and Major marketers are in full support of Tinubu’s action which has showed his determination and courage to remove the hemorrhage that had bedeviled the country for decades.
The governor noted that while there would be some discomfort on the part of the people, the move would eventually pay off, as there can be no gains without pain. He said the country was spending about N4 trillion yearly on subsidy, which henceforth would be taken to the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) for sharing among the three tiers of government.
Addressing newsmen, one of the marketers and Chairman of Depot and Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPPMAN), , Mrs. Winifred Akpani said the courtesy visit was to express the major oil marketers’ utmost support to the Federal Government.
She said the group was aware of the difficulties the subsidy removal has created in the country, expressing optimism that it was going to reposition the country. She noted that Nigeria in the first three months of 2023 has spent over N2 trillion, adding that if it continued with the payment, by the end of the year, it may spend about N7 trillion.
Akpani said through subsidy, Nigeria has been feeding her neighbouring countries, adding that it can no longer subsidise fuel for African countries, while its economy continues to bleed.
The marketers announced their intention to donate 100 mass transit buses, worth N10 billion as a way to cushion the effect of subsidy removal, hoping that other well-meaning corporate bodies would do the same.
Her words: “We all collectively agree that we’re going to work at providing real mass transit buses that work. The ones that run on CNG, which is a compressed natural gas and diesel interchangeably, and hopefully, we’re going to start with about 50 to 100. And that is in the very, very short term. And these are locally produced.
“So, we’re also providing jobs, a lot more jobs because we’re using local assembly plants, we are not importing this. That is less pressure on our foreign exchange, and that’s more jobs for Nigerians. And Mr. President was very happy with that.”
Meanwhile, governors, who took turns to speak when the President hosted members of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF), led by its chairman, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq of Kwara State, also commended the President’s subsidy-removal decision, which they said was a demonstration of statesmanship.
They congratulated the President for tackling the fuel subsidy behemoth, promising to work with him to ameliorate the short-term impact of the decision.
President Bola Tinubu however has directed the National Economic Council (NEC), led by Vice President Kashim Shettima, to begin the process of working on interventions to ameliorate the impact of petrol subsidy removal on Nigerians.
The meeting, which was attended by Vice President Kashim Shettima and new Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume, had 22 governors and two deputy governors from Edo and Niger states, in attendance.punch
