‘Fuel subsidy is a cartel for corruption,’ Governor says

monjola sotubo

May 27, 2015 2:21 PM

Niger State Governor, Babangida Aliyu also said that the subsidy regime is the main form of corruption in the country.

Niger State Governor, Babangida Aliyu has said that removing the subsidy on fuel could be the permanent solution for the constant fuel crises faced in Nigeria.

Aliyu also said that the subsidy regime is the main form of corruption in the country.

The governor made the comments while commissioning a three-star hotel constructed jointly by the Niger State Development Company Limited and the state SURE-P in Minna, the state capital.

He said:

“I have been vindicated. When some years back I took a principled position as one of the few governors who said ‘remove fuel subsidy; it is a cartel for corruption.”

“Many people did not understand that time. Some publicist did not agree with me. They said, ‘Don’t remove it; it is the common man that will suffer.’ I said which common man, when at the time you are talking about subsidy the common man goes to buy it three times the price that you call subsidy?”

“Therefore, I ask everyone – this subsidy is for whom? In the whole of Niger State at that time, even the government’s fuel stations were not selling at the subsidised rate. Yes, they were selling a bit lower than the commercial filling stations, but they were also above the subsidy.”

“Why were we having problems? It is because those who have been enjoying the subsidy have seen the sign that it may be removed and they are afraid. Subsidy is a cartel for corruption.”

Aliyu also spoke on the irony of Nigeria sending its crude oil out to other countries to be refined.

Meanwhile, marketers in the country have said that the current fuel scarcity might not ease off until next week due to the public holiday on Friday, May 29, 2015.

monjola sotubo