Follow Us on Google
From Priscilla Ediare, Ado-Ekiti
A former member of the House of Representatives, Hon Bamidele Faparusi, has urged the federal government to introduce a subsidy on gas to cushion the effects of the fuel subsidy removal on Nigerians, saying “this will develop Nigerians’ local capacity on its adoption.”
Faparusi, who posited that government will not achieve anything meaningful if it should implement the proposed N8,000 palliatives to N12 million households in the country, called on the government to shift attention to the use of gas and strengthen its adoption as an alternative to petrol to ameliorate the hardship occasioned by the removal of fuel subsidy.
The chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State made the remarks in a statement made available to newsmen in Ado-Ekiti, the capital of the state, at the weekend.
He commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for his rear courage to implement the subsidy removal on petroleum products, saying “Leadership is about the ability to take difficult decisions, and removal of subsidy on petroleum products is one of such decisions.”
Faparusi who represented Ekiti East/Gbonyin/Emure Federal Constituency at the 7th National Assembly, maintained that the only way the government can cushion the current harsh effects of fuel subsidy removal is to divert part of the subsidy on gas so that Nigerians can adopt gas as an alternative, noting “after all, smuggling that bastardised the previous subsidy regime on fuel will be near impossible with Gas.”
The APC chieftain explained that the step will reduce the demand for petroleum products and create new employment and business opportunities for Nigerians, and will also serve as palliatives to everybody both rich and poor.
The former Coordinator, Contact and Mobilization Committee, Tinubu/Shettima Presidential Campaign Committee in the 2023 presidential election in Ekiti State, submitted that “the proposed N8,000 palliatives to 12 million households would be a waste of resources. Government will not achieve anything meaningful through such policy.”
The ex-lawmaker added, “No number of buses purchased by government can solve the transportation problem brought about by the subsidy removal, therefore the government must accelerate the adoption of Gas as the alternative to fuel our vehicles and re-energise the economy.
“As you can notice, we now have very few vehicles on our roads, which means people’s productivity has dropped and that will affect the economic output of the country in the medium term. As a government, we must mitigate this by exploring an alternative means of fuelling the economy through the introduction of subsidy on Gas for a period of 5 years to allow for local adoption of the resource.
“In Europe, they use gas for virtually everything, and we have accounts of gas resources everywhere in Nigeria. So, the government should upgrade gas infrastructure through public-private partnerships and introduce subsidies to bridge the viability gap. This to me is the immediate solution to the current hardship. This policy should be time bound for say five to ten years for people to adopt it. Within that period, the adoption of gas by Nigerians would have been entrenched.
“If people can afford to convert their vehicles to run on gas and the technology is available, this will create more employment opportunities and reduce the high cost of living. As it stands today, not only the poor, the rich also cry. This will relieve masses more than sharing N8,000.”
