A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Prof. Itse Sagay said the sudden manner in which President Bola Tinubu removed the fuel subsidy in his inaugural speech on May 29, 2023, created untold hardship for Nigerians.
Sagay stated this in an interview aired on Channels
Television on Friday.
The senior lawyer said President Tinubu should have waited
for six months after his inauguration before removing the fuel subsidy.
Sagay, the Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee
Against Corruption (PACAC), said the Tinubu administration should have waited
for the commencement of petrol production locally before removing subsidy
petrol.
He said, “Petrol is critical to our lives. The cost of
living is going up, and basic living is now expensive. I think we might have gone
on for another six months and as internal production was coming up, then the
subsidy can be removed.
“The immediacy and the sudden manner of the decision to
remove petrol subsidy has created an immediate level of hardship which is
almost becoming unbearable.”
“I am not in full agreement with the way and order some of
the things are being done now. On the issue of petrol, I would have been
happier if the government had been patient to allow internal production to
commence before removing the subsidy.
“Now, Dangote is now producing. And of course, the refinery
in Port Harcourt is almost ready. Perhaps, if we had waited a little longer,
the transition will not have been harsh. We are in it already but I think we
are in competent hands and we will get out of it.
“We’ve been on this subsidy for decades and a few more
months would not have killed us. You can see the difference in lifestyle now.”
Sagay also said there must be a stop to the “deterioration
of the value of the naira”. He said, “I never dreamt that there would be a time
when the dollar would change for over N1,000 to a dollar. It has to stop,
otherwise, it will destroy everything that the government is trying to do.”
The senior lawyer, however, expressed confidence in the new
government and its ability to provide quality leadership for the Nigerian
people.
“They are people who
know what they are doing. I have faith in them and I believe that as time goes
on, the pressure on Nigerians will ease, hardship will decrease and we will be
in a much better position that we are in now,” he said.
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