Dapo Abiodun, the Governor of Ogun State has has labeled the defunct fuel subsidy a scam.
This is as the governor stressed that the removal of fuel subsidy was a necessary step.
Abiodun made the disclosure when he addressed newsmen after taking part in the two-Rakat prayer at the Lantoro prayer ground in Abeokuta, Ogun State, to remember the year’s Eid-el-Kabir on Wednesday.
While calling fuel subsidy a scam, he claimed that President Bola Tinubu’s removal of it would significantly improve the lives of many Nigerians.
The Former Chairman of the Nigerian Oil Marketers Association explained that by eliminating the subsidy, the Federal Government would have more money to meet Nigerians’ needs.
He then urged Nigerians to be patient during the period of transition, saying that the difficulties now were only temporary side effects of ending the fuel subsidy.
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The Governor added that the subsidy had to be eliminated for Nigeria’s economy to prosper because it had failed to benefit the people of Nigeria and had instead resulted in significant revenue losses because of corruption within the regime that oversaw it.
He said:
“I want to assure Nigerians that the current administration — both at the state and national — would significantly improve the lot of Nigerians. When leadership is provided, the challenges of Nigeria are not unsurmountable. There is nothing that can be achieved without some pain.
“The issue of fuel subsidy, you could see, for instance, that smuggling has gone down. Because fuel subsidy is not being enjoyed by Nigerians, more money will be now in the pocket of the Federal Government in order to be able to take care of the masses.
“An example I will give to you is that you will notice that NNPC was supposed to be remitting money into the federation account for the tiers of government to be shared as federal allocation, but because of the scam called fuel subsidy, not only was the NNPC failing to remit, it was also telling the Federal Government that the nation is indebted to it (NNPC).
READ ALSO: Why I Didn’t Remove Fuel Subsidy – Buhari
“Every good thing will come with some little pain, but what is important is that you could see a clear direction that Bola Tinubu is providing the leadership as President, and by providing that leadership, every other thing will fall into place. There is no better time to make those difficult but very necessary decisions. In another six months, one year we will begin to see the benefits.”
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