Group warns President Buhari on planned removal of fuel subsidy

The Conscience Nigeria, a Civil Society Organisation (CSO) focused on good governance, has warned President Muhammadu Buhari not to head the advise by some stakeholders to implement total removal of subsidy and deregulation of the downstream sector.

The Executive Director, Conscience Nigeria, Mr. Tosin Adeyanju, at a press briefing in Abuja, advised Buhari not to fall into the trap being set by those he referred to as "oil mafia" through "ill-timed fuel subsidy removal".


According to Adeyanju, the concerns expressed by Nigerians that forced the immediate past Goodluck Jonathan administration to rescind its initial deregulation of the sector are yet to be addressed.

He said this is because "we believed that if we must deregulate or remove subsidy on petrol, certain fundamentals must be addressed."

The civil society activists insisted that "nothing has changed since the last removal of subsidy by former President Goodluck Jonathan, which caused the 'Occupy Nigeria' to shut down the country.

"Should the fuel subsidy be removed without addressing certain issues, Conscience Nigeria will help to "mobilise Nigerians against this unpopular policy that will definitely bring hardship to Nigerian masses".

Speaking further, Adeyanju appealed to the President Buhari to "review the 2015 budget and refocus it to dedicate 40 per cent of it to job creation for young people who made the change mantra possible, because the unemployment situation is a time bomb waiting to explode".

Credit: Senator Iroegbu/ThisDay