President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has been advised to be ready to face serious backlash and confrontation from oil subsidy cartels in the aftermath of final withdrawal of oil subsidy.
Giving the advice in Abuja, a non-governmental organisation, Pristine Initiative for Social Development (PRISOD), said oil subsidy was a multi-trillion naira scam whose beneficiaries are well-heeled, rich and powerful.
In a statement by its Executive Director (Strategic Communication), Fola Arogundade, the group noted that over N7 trillion was spent on petroleum subsidy last year and N3.6 trillion was earmarked for first half of 2023.
“We now know that over half of these sums went into private pockets. So, we’re talking about people who have got stupendously rich on this racket and who will not cave in easily to being denied this filthy lucre.
“Any group of persons who have illicitly amassed such wealth would of course have a huge war chest ready to deploy to protect its interests, even at the cost of human lives,” he said.
The group said it’s not unlikely that these persons have primed foot soldiers ready for battle at short notice.
“Vice President Kashim Shetima already described them as ‘powerful and ruthless’, so the Tinubu administration is apparently aware of their capabilities and should be ready to face them fire for fire.
“We know their strategy would include making the country ungovernable for this administration by way of civil unrest and other forms of public disorder. President Tinubu should be ready to instantly crush such tendencies,” he said.
The group praised President Tinubu for his courage in actually taking the step that many of his predecessors had shied away from and urged him to faithfully implement programmes to mitigate the short-term effects of the subsidy withdrawal.