Posted by Amarachi on Wed 26th Jul, 2023 - tori.ng
The governor assured Nigerians that government would put into better use savings from the removal of fuel subsidies to revamp the economy of the country.
Gov Dapo Abiodun
Gov Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State has appealed to Nigerians to endure the hardship caused as a result of the fuel subsidy removal.
Abiodun made the plea after a private meeting with the former president Olusegun Obasanjo at his private residence in Abeokuta, the State capital.
Gov Abiodun refused to reveal while he visited Obasanjo.
Instead, he said he has come to see his father and a son can come to see his father anytime he wishes.
While speaking with newsmen on the removal of fuel subsidy, Abiodun lamented that Nigeria lost N4trillion annually to the subsidy regime.
He therefore insisted that there was no better time to remove the subsidy than now.
The governor assured Nigerians that government would put into better use savings from the removal of fuel subsidies to revamp the economy of the country.
“We all know that the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration started with a bang. On 29th of May, he reeled out a few initiatives, one of the most laudable of those initiatives was his decision to remove subsidy on petroleum products.
“As controversial as that initiative has been, no one can deny the fact that it was a very welcome initiative. That was a subsidy that Nigeria could no longer afford, it was a subsidy that was not in the budget beyond June 2023.
“More importantly, it was costing Nigeria about N4trillion per annum, N4trillion that Nigeria did not have, that we have had to borrow, that could be better expended on other things that the common man can feel, so it was a very right decision.
“Of course, it was a decision that also came with a bit of pain, but like they say, there is no gain without some pain”, Abiodun said.
He urged Nigerians to endure the hardship of increase of fuel price, saying the benefits of the subsidy removal outweigh the pain.