The presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, has said the alleged mismanagement and diversion of funds recovered from fuel subsidy removal should not be used as a justification to reverse the policy.
Obi spoke on Monday during a political panel session at the 66th Annual General Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
The former Anambra State governor said he supported the removal of fuel subsidy but argued that the Federal Government had failed to properly utilise the resources generated from the policy.
According to him, the government should have provided alternatives for Nigerians and channelled the savings from subsidy removal into critical sectors such as healthcare and education.
“Well, I subscribe, and I maintain that you need to remove subsidy. Mismanagement of the proceeds should not be the reason for not removing it,” Obi said.
“What we should have done is that when we remove subsidy, we would have given the people an alternative usage for the subsidy.
“What we have today is that that removal and attendant resources being recovered are also being mismanaged and stolen.”
Obi said the Federal Government had claimed to have received about N16tn from subsidy removal, arguing that the money should have been invested transparently in sectors capable of improving the living conditions of Nigerians.
“For example, we have received, according to them [the Federal Government], N16tn. I said it before; go to my manifesto and see where I said I would remove subsidy,” he said.
The NDC candidate said his proposed approach would have involved removing the subsidy in an organised manner and transparently investing the savings for the benefit of Nigerians.
“We’ll do it in an organised manner, and whatever we recover will be invested appropriately,” he said.
Obi further argued that the government could have saved the proceeds instead of spending them without clear accountability.
He said such savings could have significantly increased Nigeria’s sovereign wealth and provided resources for future development.
“If they had saved the money and decided to do like any other country, we would have had $10bn added to the sovereign wealth fund,” he said.
According to him, the controversy surrounding subsidy removal is not necessarily about the policy itself but about what successive governments have done with the resources generated from it.
“So it’s what you use the money for that is the problem,” Obi said.
He also addressed discussions around the opposition coalition ahead of the 2027 general elections, saying he would only support an arrangement genuinely focused on the interests and welfare of Nigerians.
Obi and other presidential contenders participated in the political session at the NBA conference, where issues including fuel subsidy, governance, accountability, transportation and Nigeria’s political future ahead of the 2027 elections were extensively debated.
(The Whistler)