Things Would Have Been Worse If Subsidy Didn’t Go – FG

The Federal Government has yet again defended its removal of subsidy on petroleum irrespective the cost of living and inflation soaring in the aftermath of the move.

Recall that during his inauguration in May, President Bola Tinubu ended the long-running arrangement to support fuel prices in Nigeria, the continent’s most populous country and biggest economy.

The move saw the price of the commodity move from N190 to over N600 per litre with the cost of living ballooning afterwards.

However, the Minister of Information and National Orientation Mohammed Malagi on Thursday argued that the removal of the subsidy was in the best interest of the country.

“You’re premising your argument on the fact this problem just started yesterday. The foundation of our economy had taken a beating a long time ago. The substructure of our national economy has been one that cannot hold a meaningful substructure on it,” he said.

“So, it is important that Nigerians recognise that the President and his team would have to go back to reset that and that is why from day one, he said, ‘Look, subsidy issue has to go’. He had to expect that there would be this pain, of course. He anticipated that Nigerians would encounter some difficulties. But it would be worse if that subsidy did not go. It would have been difficult to carry out any meaningful development. We needed to free up resources,” he added.

The Federal Government had argued that the impact of the subsidy was not felt by the masses as some people were benefiting from it.