- Subsidy, one of the biggest problems in the country
- The politicisation of subsidy a huge setback
- Calls for end to subsidy as NNPC no longer able to pay subsidies
Economic expert and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) CFG Advisory, Mr Tilewa Adebajo, has called on the Federal Government (FG) to end subsidy payments in the country. This comes as the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has admitted its inability to remit revenues to the FG due to subsidy payments. Adebajo speaking on Arise TV programme ‘The Morning Show’, stated that subsidy payments have been politicised to the nation’s detriment.
”The subsidy issue in Nigeria is one of the biggest political problems we have had. Unfortunately, the problem has been politicised, because if you remember clearly, the same set of people who are in government today were the ones who were protesting against subsidy removal by the last government”, Adebajo said. ”The NNPC itself has said it can no longer sustain its remittances into the Federation Account because it has to pay for these subsidies, and the higher the petroleum prices go up, the more the NNPC would have to put aside for subsidies and the less that is going to not only the federal government but the state governments”, he added.
”It’s important that the government drops this subsidy so that it can have significant revenue to be able to fund its operations on a day-to-day basis. Because it is clear that the government is finding it difficult to right-size” Adebajo concluded.