Sani tasks Tinubu to neutralise parasites who use subsidy to milk the treasury
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Former Senator Shehu Sani has applauded Bola Tinubu for yanking off fuel subsidy from the budget, saying the President has declared war on agitators who support the use of subsidy to steal from the treasury.
Shehu bared his mind in reaction to Tinubu’s announcement at his inauguration on Monday that “subsidy is gone.”
He said there is no provision for subsidy in the federal budget from June 2023 and, therefore, it stands removed.
Sani, who has always supported removal of subsidy, insisted fuel stations shutting down within 24 hours of the announcement is a blackmail.
“Shutting down petrol stations on the announcement of the removal of petroleum subsidy is the usual blackmail by the subsidy cartel. It’s time to neutralise the subsidy parasites,” he tweeted, per The PUNCH.
He reiterated Abuja has spent billions of naira on fuel subsidy which experts say is not sustainable.
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Subsidy removal sparks new fuel queues, price jumps to N600 per litre
Fuel queues have returned to Lagos and some other parts of the country as petrol stations hoard fuel to make more profit, and motorists scramble for panic buying, even though subsidy will not elapse in the 2023 budget until June ending.
Marketers began to hoard fuel on Monday evening – and pump price rose from the official N185 per litre to between N350 and N600 in some areas – a few hours after Tinubu announced in his inaugural speech that “subsidy is gone.”
Queues appeared in several parts of Lagos as motorists anticipated an increase in fuel price, with social media posts showing some stations sold petrol at about N600 per liter, more than thrice the official price.
But some other stations still sold at N185 per litre.
Profit maximisation
Oil and gas analyst Dan Kunle explained petrol stockholders will want to maximise the opportunity that Tinubu’s statement provides.
Kunle said some stations will refuse to sell petrol while waiting for the price to skyrocket and demand to increase, before selling at between N450 and N500 per litre.
He warned motorists to expect fuel prices to fluctuate in the coming weeks and prepare to buy at no less than N450 per litre because of the vagaries of international crude oil prices, as Nigeria imports petroleum products.
However, some relief is expected if Dangote Refinery delivers on its promise to supply fuel products from the end of July, with market forces coming into full play to moderate prices.
IPMAN on strategy and timing of subsidy removal
Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) National Public Relations Officer, Ukadike Chinedu, urged the new government to dialogue with marketers before removing subsidy.
“We are not in support of the removal of fuel subsidy at this time. We have said it repeatedly that our refineries should be fixed before taking such a decision that will cause galloping inflation and inflict more hardship on the masses,” he stressed.
“Rather the new government should sit and discuss with marketers and other stakeholders on how to manage the fuel subsidy regime.
“We now have the Dangote Refinery, but all our refineries are still not working, so we don’t think removing subsidy is the right thing to do now.”