The presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in 2023, Peter Obi, has said he would have removed petrol subsidy and floated the naira if he was elected president.
Speaking in an interview with Arise Television yesterday, Obi said he would have implemented the policies in a “gradual and organised” manner.
The former Anambra governor said everybody knows that the “criminality and corruption” associated with the petrol subsidy regime had to end. Obi questioned the where- abouts of the funds saved from petrol subsidy since its removal, adding that the funds should have been investment in “critical infrastructure”.
He said critical areas of development have not witnessed any significant improvement since the removal of the subsidy. Obi added that he would have negotiated with operators on a fair pricing template for the product. “I have consistently maintained that I would have removed the fuel subsidy.
If you go to my manifesto, it is there and the steps I would have taken in an organised manner,” Obi said. “There is nothing wrong with the removal of fuel subsidies. What is wrong is the haphazard way in which it was announced and implemented.
“Since we were told that we removed it because we don’t want to borrow and that the funds will allow for investments in critical infrastructure. Billions saved.
Where is it? Where is it invested in critical areas of development? “Everybody knows critical areas of development — education, health, and pulling people out of poverty. Have any of these three improved? No.
“There is nothing wrong in floating and devaluing your currency. You do this when you have productivity. “In all of this, I would have done the same thing in an organised manner.”
He added that he would have ramped up the country’s production capacity in the agriculture and manufacturing sectors before floating the currency.
On May 29, 2023, during his swearing-in ceremony, President Bola Tinubu announced the end of the petrol subsidy scheme. Shortly after the announcement, the pump price of petrol moved from N190 to N500. There has been an upward trend in the price of the product that now sells at over N850.
The Tinubu-led administration also floated the nation’s currency. Currency float is an ex- change rate system where the value of the local currency is determined by market forces.
