Following the statement of the Minister of Power, Mr Adebayo Adelabu of government’s intention to apply full liberalisation of the power sector by totally removing subsidy on electricity, the members of the Organised Private Sector (OPS), have warned of imminent severe consequences the fallout would bring on the nation’s economy in short-term and long-term.

This, according to them, would also include the retaliatory effects on standards of living conditions of Nigerians, businesses and cost of goods if the government goes ahead with the removal of the subsidy on electricity consumption 100 per cent.

The private sector group comprises business membership organisations: Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN); Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA), Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Nigeria Employers Consultative Association (NECA), the Nigerian Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (NASME), Nigerian Association of Small Scale Industrialists (NASSI), and Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE).

They have raised the alarm that Nigeria does not have the buffer yet to absolve full liberalisation of the power sector that would translate to Nigerians paying for full electricity consumption.

They added that the move would dissipate the whole gamut of the country’s economy going forward by propping into chaos and retrogressive development.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with Saturday Telegraph in Lagos, a former board member of MAN, and board member of African Centre for Supply Chain (ACSC), Dr Madu Obiora, lamented that the country was yet to get out of the doldrums emanated from the subsidy removal on Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) following the unexpected pronouncement by the President in 2023.

He said that the Presidential directive has lapsed the already fragile economy into downhill begging for redemption to navigate growth and development.

Obiora explained that it is callous and anti-people for such a minister of power to say that the government is planning total subsidy removal of electricity at a period other global superpowers are committing billions of naira to secure energy security for its citizens and prioritizing their welfare.

He said: “Let me re-emphasise it again, energy subsidies are not just petrol, diesel inclusive, electricity inclusive, any energy goods and service need to be subsidised by the government because for productivity sake.

“No economy survives the high cost of energy, none? That is, because it is the priority of governments in the world to subsidise food for its people which it is called food security and subsidised energy too, it is called energy security.”

He added: “Governments spend hundreds of billions of dollars.

“In fact in 2022, the global amount of money that was spent on subsidies was $1.3 trillion globally to subsidise energy.

“As we speak, Germany has imposed a subsidy on electricity and it is going to cost €7 billion for 2025, for its industrial output.

“That subsidy entails the government of Germany taking up 80 per cent of the costs of electricity for the manufacturers and Industrialists.

“This is in addition to the fact that they subsidize food in Germany, Education and Housing too.

“And they have a social security welfare scheme for the vulnerable and its relevant citizens.

“How do you expect a country like China that subsidises energy with $130 million as at 2022 alone not talking about it now that it has reached billions of dollars?

“To manufacture goods alone from Guangdong in China and you are in Aba manufacturing goods, paying for a 200 per cent electricity tariff increase.

“How are you going to compete with what is coming out of China when your goods meet in the African market even in Ariaria market considering the cost of production?

“So, when governments subsidise energy globally, they are doing it to boost productivity and that is why the narrative that subsidising petrol and consumption is a pit of lies from hell and it is the one the media should please be talking about.

“Those who we trusted the most, those we rallied round are the set of people lying to us in Nigeria.

“They deceived us. They scammed us and we now found ourselves in all these poisonous spills.”

The former MAN helmsman noted that: “If it is the case that only few people were benefiting from our fuel subsidy, why wouldn’t have it led to loss of elections in the country?

“What is the reality today? People are trekking to work, people can no longer go to work, there are fewer cars on the roads, our economy is on the downhill, inflation is setting in, hyperinflation, unemployment, people are losing their jobs already, and companies are folding up and shutting down.

“You know why PMS is the most important energy source in Nigeria; it is because we are an informal economy generally and the SMEs dominate the informal sector.

“And the basis of energy to run the SMEs is PMS.

“So, Nigerians don’t consume petrol for leisure; it is a jurisdiction in the UK that electricity is their main source of energy.

“And that is why in the UK, the government has imposed an energy cost cap called subsidy.

“Citizens should be shielded from paying the right amount of price on electricity power, because it destroys their lives and it deprives their economy.

“So the UK government under its current PM imposed a £100 million subsidy on electricity and put it down.

“Every government must prioritise energy security which is the availability of energy and affordability, meaning a close example which is run in our economy currently should be available at affordable price is the responsibility of government. Government has been corrupt.

“The monies we should have used and prioritised our welfare and security they are consuming for their own pleasure.

“This is the conversation we refused to have before the last election, to cut down on corruption.

“People that are saying we should remove subsidies on energy costs are still driving fleets of convoys of cars on our roads that are being paid by my government.

“They are still appointing Aides. Look at our political class leaders, they are still behaving like drunken sailors aboard a sinking ship and they are telling us to sacrifice.

“Do you know why this government has always advocated for the removal of subsidies?

“It’s because it is the only thing that was effective in Nigeria despite the corruption that is associated with subsidy.

“The only thing the government was spending on is subsidy because it must get to you and get to me at the pumps.

“It is that one that is getting to you that is painting the government, not the corruption one because if they directed these monies to other avenues of expenditure, you can’t even trace it.

“That is why the government is saying new subsidy savings to vote for primary healthcare in the villages.

“How would you visit there to know whether it is there or not? Is there no funding in procurement?

“Why is the government not stopping procurement entirely? It is because of the fact that it initiated the procurement.

“Is there no fraud in every aspect, including recruitment, including appointments of Anti-corruption agencies; is there no corruption associated with it?

“Why has the government not disbanded Nigeria entirely because Nigeria is endemically corrupt?

“Why are we not telling the government to fight corruption? It is the responsibility of the government to fix the refineries.

“It is a shame that an oil producing country like Nigeria, a leading member of OPEC does not have one functional refinery at home.

“It is a shame that should be the conversation. It is not subsidy removal.”

He stressed further: “This subsidy removal that they removed on petrol is going to destroy our economy and is already destroying it.

“You can see the dollar exchange. Nobody survives the high cost of energy in a country, none?

“Energy cost caused mass protest in the UK that they are still feeling it till today. Electricity is subsidised in France where our President went to France for a summit and medical rights.

“The company that provides electricity in France is owned by the French Federal government and it subsidises electricity in France.

“So if there is anything our president must have learnt in France during his visit was the subsidy of energy. That Macron subsidised electricity for its citizens.

“So, you want to go and celebrate the subsidy removal from energy as an achievement and you begin to wonder, are our governments actually thinking?

”US government spends an average of $50 billion every single year subsidising social amenities.

“The largest component of the US budget is 19 per cent and it goes to social security and welfare which is outright consumables so why is America still the hub of both foreign and overseas investments?

“How government of Saudi Arabia subsidising diesel, petrol, gasoline, subsidising education to foreign studies levels, subsidising healthcare, in addition to food? How come Saudi Arabia is the hub of oil and gas investments in the whole world? So, how come Saudi Arabia did not crumble because of subsidies on almost all energy resources and products?

“It is the application of responsibility on the parts of the government to tell you the subsidy on energy, on petrol or any products is a precipitate for foreign investments.

“So it is not only achievable in Nigeria, but it is a senseless lie they are telling us here in Nigeria as we have been deceived.”