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Former Senator and Honourable argue the timing is wrong amidst fuel subsidy removal hardship
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They question the lack of planning and measures to cushion the impact on Nigerians
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Subsidies are necessary to benefit citizens, as practiced by other governments worldwide
Eko Hot Blog reports that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s government has been criticized by two former federal lawmakers, Senator Andrew Uchendu and Honourable Dachung Bagos, following the reduction of electricity subsidy.
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The former lawmakers argued that the timing was wrong, especially with the ongoing hardship being faced by Nigerians as a result of the removal of fuel subsidy.
Reacting during an interview on Channels TV Politics Today, Uchendu and Bagos said with the removal of subsidy on petroleum, and the timing of the electricity tariff hike would further bring untold hardship on Nigerians.
Right Decision Taken At The Wrong Time
“I have always held this view that any right decision taken at the wrong time will ultimately be wrong,” Senator Uchendu, who represented Rivers East in the National Assembly, said during the interview.
“Nigerians have had a fairly bad deal in recent times. It was important that fuel subsidy be removed, and it was removed. Some of us did argue that possibly adequate preparations were not made in anticipation of the obvious implications of subsidy removal.
“And so that very policy decision is biting hard on every Nigerian. To now come back six months down the line to talk about another subsidy removal whether Band A, Band B, or any Band will ordinarily irritate Nigerians.
“It is coming at the wrong time. We would have allowed the negative effect of the fuel subsidy removal to be properly controlled before introducing any other subsidy.”
We Only Supported Fuel Subsidy Because It Was Enriching A Few
“I quite agree with the distinguished Senator. Not just that the time is wrong but even the planning is wrong. Why we supported the fuel subsidy removal is because the monies for fuel subsidy was only enriching a few,” Bagos said.
“And inasmuch as there is a removal, there was no proper planning to cushion the effects \[of subsidy removal\] on Nigerians. Now you are having the electricity subsidy removed. What are those plans that the Federal Government has put in place to cushion the effect on Nigerians?”
The former member of the House of Representatives further contended that subsidies are not entirely detrimental, highlighting that governments worldwide provide subsidies to benefit their citizens.
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“And one thing we need to understand is, there is no government in the world that does not pay subsidy on something to cushion effects on its citizenry.
“The US or UK we are copying, all of them have subsidies on certain sectors of the economy that will cushion effects on their own citizens,” he said.
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