Obi: Fuel subsidy should have been removed gradually, not abruptly

The Labour Party presidential candidate in the 2023 elections, Peter Obi, has said that he would have removed the petrol subsidy and floated the naira if elected president, but would have done so gradually and in a more organised manner.

 

Speaking during an interview with Arise Television on Monday, the former Anambra State governor emphasised that, while he supports the policies, their implementation by the current administration was poorly managed.

 

Obi said, “I have consistently maintained that I would have removed the fuel subsidy.

 

“If you go to my manifesto, it is there, along with the steps I would have taken in an organised manner.

 

“There is nothing wrong with the removal of fuel subsidy.

 

“What is wrong is the haphazard way in which it was announced and implemented.”

 

Obi described the petrol subsidy system as rife with “criminality and corruption” and insisted that it was essential to end it.

 

However, he questioned the current government’s use of the savings from the subsidy removal.

 

“Since we were told that we removed it because we do not want to borrow, and that the funds would allow for investments in critical infrastructure.

 

“Billions saved. Where is it? Where has it been invested in critical areas of development?” he asked.

 

“Everybody knows the critical areas of development: education, health, and pulling people out of poverty. Have any of these three improved? No.”

 

On the issue of the naira, Obi said he supports floating the currency but stressed the need for groundwork, particularly in boosting domestic production.

 

“There is nothing wrong with floating and devaluing your currency. You do this when you have productivity,” he said.

 

Obi added that his administration would have focused on strengthening the agriculture and manufacturing sectors before moving to float the naira.

 

“In all of this, I would have done the same thing in an organised manner,” he concluded.

 

President Bola Tinubu announced the removal of the petrol subsidy during his inauguration on May 29, 2023.

 

The move led to an immediate rise in fuel prices, with the pump price surging from N190 to N500 and continuing to rise since, now exceeding N850 per litre.

 

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