Ostensibly frightened by the current threats by Nigerians over claims by President Goodluck Jonathan that the Federal Government was considering total removal of subsidy from petrol, the presidency on Thursday declared that it had no plans to take such an action.
Hours after the President made the statement, Nigerians, civil society groups and students of tertiary institutions rejected the proposition even though President Jonathan had said he would consult with the people before removing subsidy.
Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe, in a statement in Abuja on Thursday, said President Goodluck Jonathan’s statement concerning subsidy removal was a mere suggestion to the people as the presidency was not even prepared to take such an action any time in this administration. Okupe further said the President had serious considerations for the feelings, reactions and plight of the people.
To make Nigerians believe him, he disclosed that the government had sufficiently made provision for fuel subsidy in the 2013 budget and that there were no plans to remove subsidy again. The presidential spokesman said President Jonathan’s statement at the Economic Summit in Lagos was a frank, intellectual and well-articulated contribution by the President to the discussion on the Nigerian Economy at the said Summit.
“It was from an honest and sincere leadership perspective. 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.
“It is an undeniable fact that every responsible leadership, genuine stakeholder and patriot must be worried when a nation spends about N1 Trillion, an equivalent of about 20 percent 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,” Okupe said.
He said contrary 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.”
He said further that the current administration was “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.
