The Presidency on Thursday said it had no plans to remove oil subsidy.<\/p>\n
Presidential spokesman, Dr Doyin Okupe, in a statement in Abuja, said despite President\u00a0 Goodluck Jonathan\u2019s recent remark concerning subsidy, the administration, as a matter of policy,had no plans in that direction.<\/p>\n
Besides, Dr Okupe, who said the President was mindful of the reactions and plight of the Nigerian people, \u00a0maintained that sufficient allocation for fuel subsidy has already been made in the 2013 budget \u201c therefore there is no cause for alarm on removal of fuel subsidy .<\/p>\n
On the President\u2019s remark at the Economic Summit in Lagos, Dr Okupe said \u201cwas a frank, intellectual and well-articulated contribution by the President to the discussion on the Nigerian Economy at the said Summit, and it was from a honest and sincere leadership perspective\u201d.<\/p>\n
President Jonathan\u2019s remark had generated a furore with attendant lamentations from the Nigerian public who viewed the move as anti-people and a plot to hike pump price of petroleum products .<\/p>\n
According to Dr Okupe\u201d The President and this administration are not insensitive to the plights of the Nigerian Masses and will continue to pursue and execute policies and programmes that are in the overall interest of majority of Nigerians and that will bring the greatest good to the greatest number of our teeming population.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said further \u201cIt is an undeniable fact that every responsible leadership, genuine stakeholder and patriot must be worried when a Nation spends about\u00a0 N1 Trillion, an equivalent of about 20% of the National Budget, on subsidy paid out to a few Companies and enjoyed in the main by very few elites, while the common man benefits only minimally.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dr Okupe said \u201cContrary to the speculation in the media and assumption by certain groups within the polity, we wish to state categorically that, the removal of oil subsidy is not on the table of the Transformation Agenda of the President. The statement made by President Goodluck Jonathan at the recent Economic Summit held in Lagos was a frank, intellectual and well articulated contribution by the President to the discussion on the Nigerian Economy at the said Summit, and it was from a honest and sincere leadership perspective.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFinally, for the avoidance of doubt and at the risk of being repetitive, this administration is not considering the issue of removal of fuel subsidy in the nearest future and certainly will not embark on any such programme without extensive consultations and engagements across the various segments, interests and stakeholders in the Nigerian polity.\u201d He said<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Presidency on Thursday said it had no plans to remove oil subsidy. Presidential spokesman, Dr Doyin Okupe, in a statement in Abuja, said despite President\u00a0 Goodluck Jonathan\u2019s recent remark…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7756,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11456","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n