The recent call by Aliko Dangote, Chairman of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery, for the total removal of fuel subsidy in the country, in an interview with ‘Bloomberg’, which fuel marketers believe could lead again to the surge in the pump price of premium motor spirit (PMS) to N1,800 per litre has sparked off debates.

That is, with regards to the excruciating effects on the cost of living of the ordinary citizen. Worthy of note is that Dangote Refinery, which happens to be the sole producer of PMS in the country, has a capacity of 650,000 barrels per day.

But the four local refineries at Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna have a total production capacity of 450,000 barrels per day, yet have remained comatose for decades.

That is despite the huge sums of public funds spent on their turn around maintenance, as well as the promise made by the President Bola Tinubu-led administration that fuel would be rolled out from the refineries by December last year.

Our source of serious concern, however, has to do with the ever escalating pump price of PMS and the deleterious, inflationary effects on transportation, food prices, education, healthcare delivery and the general wellbeing of the masses.

For instance, as at May 29, 2023 when Tinubu told Nigerians that the fuel subsidy was gone for good the pump price hovered between N187 and N220/litre. But between then and September 15, 2024 it has risen to N650/litre. Currently, it sells at N855/litre at the NNPC Ltd outlets.

The ordinary citizen cannot therefore, understand if the primary purpose of government is to inflict unbearable pains on the people, or to mitigate such.

That brings into focus the two sides to the coin of the pump price of fuel, as called for by both Dangote and Doyin Okupe, the former spokesperson to Peter Obi, the 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP).

According to Dangote: “I think it is the right time to take away the subsidy because all countries have gotten rid of the subsidy.” His argument is that once a country subsidises the product, the marketers and members of the oil cabal keep increasing the price. But Okupe has a contrary opinion. In his words: “Petroleum is the economic oxygen of

This cannot be good for the country which is already battling a 5.3% unemployment rate. The consequences are dire for an already fragile economy

Nigerians, whether rich or poor. This is not the situation in other countries of the world”. Going further, he stressed on the imperative of getting our local refineries working, as the 450,000 barrels/day capacity would meet local consumption. Said he: “We can sell this daily crude oil allocation for local consumption, cheap to determine the average pump price of PMS.”

To shed brighter light on how to eventually get the price stabilised, Okupe said: “The price of Nigerian crude oil per barrel is $77, so we can decide to sell to Dangote Refinery at $35 or $37 per barrel, thereby having adjustments of processing fees and profit margin. The pump price of petroleum can actually come down to N500 or N600 per litre.

This will definitely bring major relief, comfort and succour to the masses.” In fact, we cannot agree any less with the valid position of Okupe. For eons, Nigerians have been lamenting the painful irony of suffering from poverty in the midst of vast natural resources.

And it has all been aggravated by the greed of a few favoured citizens – either as political decision makers, or at the helm of the economy – dragging them down the pit of poverty if only to keep sustaining their opulent lifestyle.

We are therefore compelled to call on President Tinubu to reconsider, and in fact reverse the anti-people policies of the sudden hike in the pump price of PMS, electricity tariff and Value Added Tax (VAT).

The recent increase of the bank interest rate to 27.25% by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) will undoubtedly pile more pressure on businesses which depend on loans for their survival. This cannot be good for the country which is already battling a 5.3% unemployment rate.

The consequences are dire for an already fragile economy. On the opaque feature of fuel subsidy issue, right from the tenure of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo through that of Dr. Goodluck Jonathan to the Muhammadu Buhari and the current Tinubu-led government the ordinary citizen has been at the receiving end of the pains triggered by it.

We are therefore, urging the policy makers and those who implement them to focus on getting the local refineries working, provide the enabling environment to boost economic productivity and prevent foisting further economic hardship on the good people of Nigeria

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