I Am Opposed To The Removal Of Fuel Subsidy - Bamidele

The Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Legislative Budget and Research, Opeyemi Bamidele, has said the absence of a provision for fuel subsidy in the 2015 Appropriation Act is a booby trap for the incoming administration of the President-elect, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari.

The lawmaker, in a statement on Thursday, said Buhari and the All Progressives Congress (APC) should understand the full implications of this and take immediate steps to let Nigerians know where they stand on the matter Punch reports.

“The truth and reality of the situation is that the outgoing PDP administration has, through the 2015 budget, removed oil subsidy and it must be made to accept responsibility for it rather than for the incoming APC administration to bask in the euphoria of having won an election without realising the booby trap into which they and the Nigerian people are walking into,” he said.

Bamidele, who contested the governorship seat in Ekiti State on the platform of the Labour Party (LP), said apart from the reduced amount of N21bn provided in the Act for the Subsidy Reinvestment Programme, no other provision was made in the budget for subsidized welfare services.

He warned that the absence of the provision for continued fuel subsidy portends grave implications for the Buhari administration.

The statement read, “To me, this is definitely a booby trap for the incoming administration. Those who were suggesting within the APC that its incoming administration might withdraw fuel subsidy must be educated that they would be sending Nigerians a wrong signal capable of creating the impression that the APC either deceived Nigerians to get their votes or had reneged on its electoral promise as a progressive party.

“This is a serious development and a defining moment that calls for the attention of all well-meaning Nigerians at home and abroad. This is the first time in the last 16 years of our civilian rule that a new political party will be taking over to form a government and if care is not taken, this matter is capable of making the incoming government morally dead on arrival.

“For the record and for posterity purposes, I am opposed to this sudden removal of fuel subsidy and I implore Nigerian patriots to be aware.”

The subsidy is a form of price manipulation whereby the government fixes the pump price for sale to consumers and pays the retailer the difference between the actual market price and the regulated or official price per litre.

It is also an indirect form of wealth redistribution to the poor majority. If this is taken away then the government must come up with policies to compensate Nigerians, utilize the savings and explain how the inevitable inflation will be managed.