Remove fuel subsidy now or else Nigeria will sink into more poverty – Gov Fayemi

The chairman of Nigeria Governor’s Forum and Governor of Ekiti State, Dr. Femi Kayode, while delivering a paper at an event stated that 82% of the fuel subsidy paid by the federal government goes to the middle class and the majority of Nigerians who are poor do not benefit from it.

Dr. Fayemi continued that unless the federal government stops the fuel subsidy, which the poor masses are not benefiting from, the few rich will continue to dominate. It is the failure of governance on our part as a country to have continued to allow a situation harmful to the ordinary citizens to be maintained.

The NGF, he said, has conducted extensive research on fuel subsidy and found how the petroleum is taken outside the country, and the middlemen involved as well as how it benefits only the middle class in the society. The governor also revealed how some states are cheated, according to him, Ekiti State, for example, is shortchanged as Lagos, Kaduna, and Abuja take the bulk of the benefits of fuel subsidy while Ekiti State takes only 8%.

“Nigeria is poor and the greater challenge the country has is that it has an enormous population seeking opportunities that have continued to elude them. There is this false notion that Nigeria is a strong and resilient country. We are almost on the precipice.

“It is almost midnight in the country and if we don’t take tough measures to address the economic and social inequalities, we may have to deal with the consequences.

“You cannot say that you are a poor country and you are maintaining a lifestyle that is unsustainable than people who have the wealth to maintain such,” Governor Fayemi asserted.

 

Media Report