Follow Us on Google
From Adanna Nnamani, Abuja
The Arewa Economic Forum (AEF) has called on President Bola Tinubu to reverse his decision to remove fuel subsidies, stating that the hardship has become too severe.
Chairman of the group, Ibrahim Dandakata, made the call at a press conference, yesterday, in Abuja.
Dandakata said even though the removal of fuel subsidy has freed up more funds for state allocations, it has not translated into better public welfare because the money is not trickling down to the populace.
He said it would be preferable to resume paying the subsidy using the extra money that the Federal Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) was providing to state governments.
“To be fair to him, President Tinubu made it unambiguously clear during the electioneering that he would remove fuel subsidies if he won the election. What he did not, however, warn Nigerians of is the unprecedented hardship this singular decision will cause our people. But fuel subsidy removal is not all about bad news. It has, at least, caused massive increase in the monies shared at FAAC meetings with states going away with humongous figures on a monthly basis. But how has more money for governors to play with affected the lives of the masses? How?
“We at the AEF have found out that the huge sums of money available to state governors are not trickling down because the governors are not investing in areas that will reflate the state economy and are not committed to providing palliatives for the people.
“A check we conducted on recent FAAC allocations has shown some of the states have had their allocations increased by up to 90 per cent with little or no improvement in the lives of the people. The percentage increase in the allocations to states after fuel subsidy removal is humongous.
“We are, therefore, using this platform to call on President Tinubu to reverse the subsidy removal policy and use the extra money FAAC has been giving to the states to resume paying subsidy on PMS. The president should do this urgently if he knows he cannot find a way within the limit of his constitutional powers and political influence to make the governors more accountable to the people,” he said. He urged the Federal Government to put together a proper social register that can be used to distribute food items to Nigerians without the involvement of the state governments.
The association’s leader also urged the government to summon adequate political will to arrest the free fall of the naira by investigating the causes and addressing them.
Dandakata, who warned against the ongoing moves to put together a state policing system to combat the rising insecurity, said the idea would only empower governors with a tool they are most likely to use for political witch-hunting.
He, instead, proposed the Federal Government revive and expand the police constabulary and provide for it the logistics needed to support security agencies to combat crimes at local levels.
“The state governments, who are desirous of such policing at their level, should be made to provide the missing logistics for it to function well in terms of operational costs and allowances,” Dandakata said.
