Nigeria Can Only Become Great Through Elimination of Subsidies – IPMAN
The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) has said Nigeria can only become great through the deregulation of the oil industry and the elimination of subsidies,
IPMAN National Public Relations Officer, Yakubu Suleiman stated this, Wednesday during his appearance on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily programme.
“IPMAN’s position is that the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) is supporting or has supported the deregulation of the industry,”
“Removing subsidy is the only answer to make Nigeria great because there is no country that can survive without deregulating the economy.”
He applauded President Bola Tinubu for announcing subsidy removal in his inaugural speech.
“We really applaud Mr President for having the courage to announce the removal of subsidy,” he stated.
Suleiman argued that Tinubu was just notifying Nigerians that there was no longer a subsidy, noting that the administration of the outgoing President Muhammadu Buhari had already made it clear there was no longer a subsidy by failing to include funding for it past June 2023 in the budget for this year.
According to the IPMAN official, refined petrol without subsidy payments will go into effect in July, not June.
Although he acknowledged the value of stakeholder conversations, he insisted that subsidy reduction is the best course of action.
The spokesman for IPMAN asked Nigerians not to indulge in panic buying because there is now enough Premium Motor Spirit, popularly known as gasoline, accessible in the nation.
In a related development, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) National President, Joe Ajaero, has said the leadership is scheduled to meet with members of the Federal Government today (Wednesday) to discuss the proposed withdrawal of the fuel subsidy.
“There, all other issues will be discussed because you can’t just say there is no subsidy and then you are not producing and leave us to the vagaries of the market, to people who want to sell the product they bought for N10 for N100 to maximise profit. If there is no more garri, we must find out what to eat,” he stated this when fielding questions on Channels Television
