The members of the Organised Private Sector of Nigeria have decried the persistent fuel scarcity in the country, referring to it as disgraceful and unacceptable.
In a statement issued by Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association, (NECA), on behalf of OPSN members, they stated that the debate over the removal of fuel subsidy has been endless, over many years, with stakeholders having different views.
They said their posture has been the gradual removal with a clear road map and cushioning mechanism for the citizens, as they call on the government to institute a judicial inquiry involving employers and workers’ representatives to ascertain those culpable in the fuel subsidy.
They disclosed that for over ten years over N20 trillion has been spent on fuel subsidies and in 2022 alone, over N5 trillion was spent and over N3trillion budgeted for the same purpose in the 2023 budget.
“Since 1973 when fuel subsidy mechanism was introduced as a tool to cushion the landing cost of the petroleum products as a result of the Turn Around Maintenance of the refineries, subsidy has taken a frightening turn, becoming a major drain in the purse of the nation.
” It is no gainsaying, that the subsidy regime as currently operated is shrouded in secrecy and fraught with corruption” they stated.
They revealed that the Presidential Committee on Verification and Reconciliation of Fuel Subsidy Payments between 2009 and 2011 showed that about N667billion (about $4.3billion) was being mismanaged annually, subsidizing millions of litres of petrol that Nigerians never used, or even needed.
The Comptroller-General of Customs also alluded to the fact that the subsidy scheme is a brazen rape of the country’s scarce resources.
While the major misalignment within stakeholders is basically on the likely effect of the sudden subsidy removal and attendant price adjustment on household income and general standard of living of Nigerians, the greater argument remains unsustainable, fiscal loss and the recklessness associated with the subsidy regime.
They lamented that the situation is now so pathetic, as Nigerians are already paying over N300-N650 per litre for the same product that is supposed to have been subsidized.
“While we strongly recommend that the fuel subsidy regime should be removed by government by June 2023, as contained in the Appropriation Act, 2023, we also strongly urge that government should not spare any effort to complete the Turn Around Maintenance, TAM, of the four refineries before the June, 2023 date’ they stated.
The members of OPSN include Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association, (NECA), Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, (MAN), National Association for Small & Medium Enterprise, (NASME), National Chambers of Commerce, Industries, Mines & Agriculture, (NACCIMA), and National Association of Small Scale Industrialist,( NASSI).
