Former Anambra State governor and presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, has reiterated his support for the removal of petrol subsidy, arguing that poor management of the savings should not justify its return.
Obi spoke on Monday at a conference organised by the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
He said subsidy removal was necessary but should have been implemented in an organised manner, with the savings channelled into projects and programmes that directly benefit Nigerians.
“I subscribe and maintain that you need to remove subsidy. Mismanagement of the proceeds shouldn’t be the reason for not removing it,” Obi said.
According to him, the government should have provided alternatives for Nigerians and properly invested the resources recovered from the policy.
He claimed that the government had reported savings of about N16 trillion from subsidy removal but accused the administration of mismanaging and allegedly diverting the funds.
Obi said a portion of the savings could have been invested in healthcare, particularly primary healthcare centres across the country.
He argued that five per cent of N16 trillion, amounting to about N800 billion, could fund primary healthcare centres across the country, noting that each centre would cost approximately N100 million based on his estimates.
The former governor also highlighted the need to expand kidney-care facilities, claiming that millions of Nigerians suffer from kidney-related ailments.
He said the government could have used part of the savings to establish more kidney centres and procure dialysis machines.
Obi further argued that the savings could have been invested in Nigeria’s sovereign wealth fund, potentially strengthening the country’s financial position and creating resources for future development.
He criticised the government for asking Nigerians to endure economic hardship while, in his view, public resources were not being used efficiently.
“Nigerians have been asked to fast. They cannot be feasting when Nigerians are fasting,” he said.
Obi maintained that the solution was not to reverse subsidy removal but to ensure that the resources saved from the policy were transparently and productively deployed for the benefit of Nigerians.