Reverse Petrol Subsidy Removal, Activists Tell Tinubu

Political activists under the aegis of the Coalition for Revolution (CORE), have called on President Bola Tinubu, to reverse the removal of petrol subsidy by his government.

Tinubu had during his inaugural speech on May 29, said subsidy for petrol is no longer in existence. A comment that shortly after, resulted in long queues at filling stations, hike in petrol price and increase in transportation fare across the country.

“On fuel subsidy, the budget I met before I assumed office and what I heard is that there is no provision for subsidy. Fuel subsidy is gone,” he had said.

But reacting to the removal of the subsidy, CORE described the government action as an attack against the poor masses.

According to the activists, the federal government’s argument that Nigeria’s indebtedness is due to petrol subsidy is not true, adding that governments in Europe and North America provide subsidies for energy, food and other essentials to placate the public.

CORE accused Tinubu’s administration of committing itself to liberalisation of the economy and social services, noting that this would lead to increment in school fees, hike in the price of quality health services, and increment in house rents for working people.

“The APC regime of Bola Ahmed Tinubu has hit the ground running with a whip of anti-poor policies, aimed at repressing working-class people for capitalists. The first in the series of attacks against the poor masses was launched at his inauguration when he declared an immediate removal of the fuel subsidy, despite the fact that allocation for the said subsidy is included in the 2023 Appropriation Act, until the end of June. He has followed up on this with the first steps towards a full-scale devaluation of the naira, under the guise of unifying the official and black market foreign exchange rates.

“The Tinubu administration, whose legitimacy to rule is still questionable, has committed itself to liberalisation of the economy and social services. This means increases in school fees which several tertiary institutions are introducing already, the pricing of quality health services further out of the reach of poor people, and increasing house rents for working people.

“The only way that working-class people can save themselves from the agony of this barrage of neoliberal policies and many more to come is with stiff resistance. The Coalition for Revolution (CORE) had thus seen the Nigeria Labour Congress’ call for a strike as an important point of departure for the struggle we must fight.

“And we find it indefensible that the NLC called off the strike even before it had begun. It is even more worrisome that the reason given for this was the need to be lawful in the face of attacks from a government and ruling class that chooses to respect only laws that are in its interest, and which in this particular case, acted in violation of the 2023 Appropriation Act, as the NLC itself observed.

“The federal government’s argument that the country’s great indebtedness is due to fuel subsidy is a fallacy. And the idea the ruling class is sowing in the minds of Nigerians that fuel subsidy is the problem is false. Governments in Europe and North America provide subsidies for energy, food and other essentials to appease the public,” Co-conveners of CORE, Baba Aye and Gbenga Komolafe said in a statement.

The activists alleged that the last administration subsidised a few rich people to the tune of N26 trillion as import waivers over the last seven years, and bailed out 14 banks owned by capitalists with $7 billion. Citing the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), CORE said the amount supposedly spent on fuel subsidy between 2005 and 2020 was N13.7 trillion.

The activists maintained that contrary to what the government is trying to make Nigerians to believe, removal of petrol subsidy would not free resources for government spending, stating that the removal of diesel and kerosene subsidies did not result in any savings of resources, even after some time.

“The primary beneficiary of the fuel pump price hike will eventually be Aliko Dangote, who has benefitted from trillions of naira in waiver, and whose refinery was funded significantly with money from the coffers of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. He will be able to keep charging the price of the landing cost for refined petroleum products, just as when they were imported, when his refinery kicks off operation.

“We must not allow ourselves to be deceived. Now, more than ever, working-class people and their organisations need to have a deep reflection on where we are, why this is so, and what is to be done. We need to put forward bold demands, based on strategic planning, aimed at our emancipating ourselves. And we need to take decisive action which can lead to positive changes in our social and economic situation,” the group stated.

CORE called for social dialogue with the organised labour and revival of state-owned refineries.

The group also called for cheaper and cleaner sources for fueling such as the Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) to be put in place as well as probing the use of the N250 billion which was set aside by the federal government in 2021 to build a CNG intervention facility.

CORE further called for a living wage of not less than N200,000 as the new national minimum wage and the introduction of a sliding scale between the cost of living index and wages.

In addition, the group called for “rejection of Nigeria’s slavery to the dictates of the IMF, World Bank, and imperialist countries and in its stead, the establishment of strong relations with other countries such as the BRICS, to chart and fight for a New International Economic Order for the 21st century.”