Yemisi Izuora
Former Nigerian vice president Atiku Abubakar on Saturday, June 6, said st the ruling All Progressive Congress chairman Adams Oshiomhole frustrated the past efforts to remove fuel subsidy.
Atiku made this declaration via his Twitter handle.
“The Obasanjo government in which I served commenced a phased subsidy withdrawal,” the former VP tweeted.
“I was tasked with negotiating with then NLC Chairman and current APC Chairman who stood strongly against it;” he added.
Atiku said, “Obasanjo government achieved some measure of subsidy removal before their exit in 2007.”
This revelation comes in the wake of the decision by the Federal Government to remove fuel subsidies; triggering a market-based pricing regime for petrol.
President Muhammadu Buhari had granted approval to the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency to remove the price cap that was in place for petrol.
“What we are putting in place today is a situation where market forces will take control of prices and eliminate subsidy;” Mele Kyari, group managing director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, revealed.
Savings from the measure would be spent to build infrastructure, boost health care and education, he said.
“The agency shall monitor market trends and advise the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and oil marketing companies on the monthly guiding market-based price,” PPPRA also said.
Although, Nigeria is the largest producer of oil in Africa, the country imports almost all the gasoline it consumes.
The Buhari administration said it has stopped a “costly and corrupt subsidy” programme managed by his predecessor, Goodluck Jonathan; but it still pays the bill to insulate Nigerians from the full cost of petrol prices.
Instead of paying subsidies to importers, as was done under the immediate past administration; the Buhari government made the national oil company responsible for fuel imports and swallowing the difference between its costs and the price at the pump.