NATIONAL leader of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Bola Tinubu, has<\/p>\n
appealed to Nigerians to take the difficulties that might arise as a
\nresult of the new pump price of fuel as a sacrifice for a better future.<\/p>\n
In a statement issued by his media office, the two-term governor of Lagos
\nstate, commended President Muhammadu Buhari for taking \u201ca bold step\u201d,
\ntelling Nigerians that \u201cthis pain is necessary\u201d.<\/p>\n
He said the new development will clear the rot in the petroleum sector,
\nand push out \u201cfake businessmen who became true billionaires over night.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe all want fuel at a cheaper price under the subsidy, we got the right
\nprice but not the fuel,\u201d the statement read.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would be lying if I said this will cause no pain or dislocation.
\nHowever, it will stabilise supply and end the costs associated with long
\nwaits and delays for fuel. The days and hours of waiting for fuel will be
\na thing of the past.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs originally envisioned, subsidy formed a basic part of the social
\ncontract between the people and their government. It was a benefit all
\nwere to enjoy. Yet, because past governments were not for and of the
\npeople, the true meaning and objective of the subsidy policy became lost.
\nOver the years, the operation of the measure was distorted to where it no
\nlonger functioned for the benefit of the masses but for the undue
\nenrichment of a small club of businessmen, some legitimate in their work,
\nsome not.<\/p>\n
\u201cInstead of remaining a positive aspect of the social contract, subsidy
\nwas transformed into an opaque haven of intrigue and malfeasance. It was
\nturned into a shadowy process from which the unscrupulous extracted large
\nsums of money without providing the services and products duly paid for.
\nFake businessmen became true billionaires over night as if by supernatural
\nforce. They paraded themselves as such.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo allow this unfairness to continue would have been a breach of the
\npromise made by this government to the people. We all have an emotional
\nand sympathetic attachment to the ideals upon which the subsidy was
\nfounded.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tinubu said allowing the situation to remain the same would have
\ntranslated to a breach of the agreement which the ruling party had with
\nNigerians in the electioneering period.<\/p>\n
He confessed that though he would have ordinarily preferred that the
\nsector was sanitised and not totally liberalised, he believed that the
\ncurrent government took a decision that serves the people best.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis administration entered office with a mandate of CHANGE. The
\ngovernment could not forever sit back and allow this dire inequity to
\ncontinue, lest it forfeits the essence of its mandate,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wish we could have sanitised the subsidy regime and thus continue it,
\nbut I believe that President Buhari is removing it not for the austere
\npurpose of saving money but for the nobler purpose of putting those same
\nfunds to fairer, more equitable use in order that government might better
\nserve those of us who are truly in need.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile this may not be perfect, it is a much better deal than the one the
\nsubsidy offered us.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NATIONAL leader of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Bola Tinubu, has appealed to Nigerians to take the difficulties that might arise as a result of the new pump price of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26948,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-49226","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n