The 2023 presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Prince Adewole Adebayo, has stated that Nigerians should brace themselves for higher fuel prices, noting that the current increase is only the beginning.
In a statement on Friday, Adebayo predicted that the price of fuel would continue to increase, asserting that price hikes are inevitable as the government continues to rely on market forces to determine fuel prices.
According to him, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is currently using the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) to artificially keep prices lower than they would be under true market conditions. He, however, noted that this strategy is unsustainable, given the NNPCL’s financial struggles, including substantial debt.
Adebayo had previously expressed concerns about the removal of the subsidy, predicting a sharp increase in petrol prices.
He added that removing the fuel subsidy was a misstep, one that would drive petrol price towards an unsustainable equilibrium.
“I knew that one of the greatest mistakes you could ever make was to adopt a policy of removing the subsidy,” he said.
He had stated that market forces would inevitably push the price up, making it unaffordable for ordinary Nigerians.
His opposition to the removal of the fuel subsidy stems from his belief that the true cost of subsidy removal far outweighs the financial burden it places on the government.
He cited the impact on productivity, social unrest and economic dislocation as reasons he opposed the policy then and now, arguing that when considering all the associated costs, maintaining the subsidy would have been the more prudent choice.
To him, these costs outweigh the savings from subsidy removal by a factor of five to one.
“If removal of subsidy is a good thing, then all of you should send a letter of congratulations to President Tinubu,” he stated, alluding to the widespread discontent following the subsidy removal.
He criticised President Tinubu, former vice president Atiku Abubakar, who was the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate in the 2023 elections, and Mr. Peter Obi, the candidate of Labour Party in the election, who all campaigned for the removal of fuel subsidy, maintaining that he wouldn’t have removed subsidy if he was elected.
Adebayo said that the removal of the subsidy reflected an economic philosophy that placed the interests of the elite over the needs of ordinary Nigerians.
He noted that while the political and business elite enjoy numerous subsidies for housing, vehicles and other benefits, the subsidy on petrol, which benefits the broader population, was deemed problematic; citing it as an example of social injustice, with the deep economic inequalities in Nigeria.
While calling for a systematic policy shift that would reduce Nigeria’s reliance on petrol, he urged the government to implement policies that would minimise the impact of rising fuel prices on ordinary Nigerians. (Guardian)
