…NECA backs FG on fuel subsidy removal

 

 

The presidential candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Bola Tinubu, On Tuesday before the business community reiterated his desire to totally eliminate fuel subsidy regime if he is elected in the February 2023 election.

This is just as the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA) said it is in support of fuel subsidy removal as planned by the Federal Government.

“Our position is for us to remove subsidy while you deal with the issues of the four refineries. If we make the four refineries functional, then we’ll have no business importing, and that will crash the issue of subsidy totally,” NECA Director General, Adewale Oyerinde said on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily programme on Tuesday

The APC candidate told them of his determination to reinvent Nigeria’s industrialisation and make the country a leader in the fourth industrial revolution by accelerating the production of made-in-Nigeria

Tinubu in what he described as brief overview of some thoughts on how to improve and protect our beloved nation, said his administration would give Nigerians affordable and reliable power to light the entire economy as we cannot produce without constant electricity. “We have what it takes to bring it to you all; we have the gas, sun, wind and water. As for petroleum subsidy, it has to be removed and my administration would see to the implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).

According to him, he does not understand why a person him that has six cars would still be paying same amount for petrol as some that doesn’t have any car.

Another major thing he told the audience was that his administration would carry out large-scale infrastructural renewal in a manner that would enable the country maintains a minimum of six per cent Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth.

“My administration would collaborate with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the commercial banks to spur a massive consumer credit revolution in the economy.”

 “We have to revive our industry. We shall bring the nation’s industrial policy to life. Key to this is our aim to create major and minor industrial hubs in each geopolitical zone.

“We shall not be satisfied by bolstering traditional sectors. We will foster productive excellence in new areas, such as light manufacturing and the Nollywood entertainment sector.

He said through active participation in the digital economy, Nigeria shall be made a leader, instead of a bystander, in the fourth industrial revolution.

“We must target double digit GDP and in the minimum six per cent economic growth to begin to reduce the poverty rate and I am determined to accomplish that.”

On agriculture,Tinubu pledged to promote the sector by continuing to press for “reforms in the sector that will increase productivity, improve farm incomes while lowering food prices and bringing enough food to the tables of ordinary people.”

He said his administration would end the dismal state of the country’s power sector that had been the greatest undoing of Nigeria’s economy.

Tinubu added that the country must be enabled to produce and buy made-in-Nigeria goods through infrastructure development and consumer credit.

He said his government would empower citizens to, “Produce and buy made-in-Nigeria. We seek a consumer credit revolution, working in concert with the banking industry lead by the CBN. Credit at affordable rates enables the purchase of more cars and the construction of more homes. The standard of living shall rise and the strength of the business sector shall increase in similar measure.

 “We must continue with the expansion of infrastructure commenced by the current government.  From our roads and ports that will path the way to more commerce, to improvement in irrigation and water management/catchment systems to stem the humanitarian and economic tragedy visited on us by seasonal flooding.”

Tinubu assured the business community that his administration would continue the fight against insecurity, “by redefining our counterinsurgency doctrine and practice.”

He added that Nigeria’s response to terror, kidnapping, and violent criminality would be defined by the following elements: enlisting of “more people in the armed forces, security services and the police.

Our forces will be given better tactical communications, mobility as well as improved aerial and ground surveillance capacity.

“Through these and other measures, we shall better identify, monitor, track, and defeat these evil groups where they are. They shall have no respite until they surrender or are utterly defeated.”

 Tinubu said Lagos State was the appropriate location for the private sector engagement, because the state’s economic growth had become his visible experiment that could support his claim of competency and ability.

 He said, “We turned this Lagos into a safer, more prosperous place where people can go about any legitimate vocation or venture regardless of their ethnicity, religion, region or prior social station.

“We did more than open Lagos for business. We opened the door for all Nigerians to join and experience the decent things progressive democratic governance can bring.

“May I remind you that when I first entered office, Lagos was a different story. My team and I developed a master plan for Lagos. I can say that plan has been largely successful. The pragmatic problem solving and teamwork that has improved the fortunes of Lagos is what I want to bring to the nation.

“I ask for your help, as the task ahead is doable but also difficult.”

Meanwhile, the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA) says it is in support of fuel subsidy removal as planned by the Federal Government.

“Our position is for us to remove subsidy while you deal with the issues of the four refineries. If we make the four refineries functional, then we’ll have no business importing, and that will crash the issue of subsidy totally,” NECA Director General, Adewale Oyerinde said on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily programme on Tuesday.

“Come to think of it, the controversy around the subsidy regime is one that some have called a scam or organised crime. When key officials in the OPS (Organised Private Sector) and key officials of government are also saying that, then it calls for deep reflection,” he added.

The NECA boss highlighted that there had been calls for a judicial inquiry to tackle the much-debated subsidy issue. He recommended that the government revisit the reasons for the non-functionality of the country’s four refineries.

“We’ve had turnaround maintenances over time. Four refineries in a country as big as ours, probably the only country in OPEC that is not refining sufficiently,” he stated.

 “We believe strongly that we should do away with subsidy; it is unsustainable and it is a drain in Nigeria’s revenue. Very few people are benefiting from it, not the whole of Nigerians. But before you deal with the issue of subsidies, let’s address the low-hanging fruit, that is, fixing the refineries. We can do it.”