Former Senator representing Ekiti North Senatorial District, Ayo Arise, has faulted the proposal by former Vice President and African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, to restore the fuel subsidy regime if elected president in 2027.
Arise, an All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain, described the proposal as economically retrogressive, arguing that the removal of subsidy, despite the initial hardship it imposed on Nigerians, had strengthened the financial capacity of the Federal and state governments.
He said the increased resources available to governments had enabled them to meet critical obligations, including the regular payment of workers’ salaries, without constantly relying on loans or financial assistance from the Federal Government.
According to him, the wider economic benefits of regular salary payments should not be overlooked, as workers with disposable income are able to meet household needs, pay school fees and patronise businesses, thereby stimulating economic activities.
Arise spoke on Wednesday during an interview on Television Continental(TVC news) while reacting to Atiku’s pledge to review the subsidy removal policy and return to the former regime if elected in 2027.
He said those advising the former vice president had failed to properly present the broader implications of the policy to him, particularly the financial gains governments had recorded since subsidy removal.
Arise said, “I would imagine that the former VP’s advisers have not done him any favour. They’ve not done by explaining that, look, when you have the government now having sufficient funds without any form of interruption to pay salaries.
“Without running to the Federal Government to ask for any sort of loans to pay salaries. Some of this is being taken for granted because it is happening in real time and nobody is complaining.
“But in the past, when salaries were not paid, those who were salaried could not buy the little things they needed. They could not pay school fees as it were in the old days.
“Even if you give them loans or credits, they will not be able to meet their obligations. So it actually comes down to the fact that if people don’t have the buying power because they’re not paid on time, it has consequences beyond what one can easily explain.”
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The former lawmaker maintained that a substantial portion of the additional resources now available to governments came from the removal of fuel subsidy, adding that the funds could be channelled into critical sectors, including education and infrastructure.
He cited the use of recovered funds to support the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFund) as an example of how additional government resources could be deployed to ease the burden on families and enable students who might otherwise drop out of school to continue their education.
Arise argued that Nigerians should assess the subsidy removal policy beyond the immediate increase in the cost of living, questioning the rationale for returning to what he described as a system characterised by mismanagement and corruption.
He said the former subsidy regime had created opportunities for fraud, including claims for petroleum products that were allegedly never imported into the country.
“The regime of total mismanagement, of corruption, of siphoning our resources outside, people coming in saying that they have imported oil, they just bring papers, you pay them subsidy without anything coming to Nigeria.
“They were even diverting those things to West African countries. These are some of the understandings, I believe, a good adviser would have presented to his principal before such utterances could have come out,” he said.
Arise therefore urged Nigerians to consider the long-term economic implications of any proposal to restore fuel subsidy, rather than focusing solely on the immediate relief such a policy might provide.
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