Senator Ede Dafinone, APC, Delta Central and member, House of Representatives Barrister Benedict Etanabene, LP, representing Okpe/ Sapele/ Uvwie Federal Constituency of Delta State have disagreed sharply on the present hike of pump price of Premium Motor Spirit PMS, popularly called petrol from N537/ litre to N617/ litre, the removal of subsidy by President Bola Tinubu and the proposed palliatives.
While Senator Dafinone threw his weight behind the removal of fuel subsidy, with the explanations that the immediate hike of the fuel price by the Independent marketers forced President Tinubu to finally remove it as his intention was not to do that, Hon. Etanabene on his part dismissed what is called subsidy, saying that there was nothing like subsidy and that all the proposed palliatives by the Federal Government will not work, just as he said that the N8000 will also not work and that the best palliative for Nigerians would be to bring down the price of fuel to N65.
According to Senator Dafinone, there was the tendency that the price for fuel would be increased again, just as he urged Nigerians to get prepared to tighten up their belts for an economy that would get worse before it gets better apparently after four to six months, adding that President Bola Tinubu has taken some steps, Nigerians should be patient with him and support the federal government.
The lawmakers representing Delta State spoke separately in Abuja, during a reception held in their Honour by the Olorogun Jonathan O. Esin-led Urhobo Leadership Forum Association, ULFA.
The reception was held in honour of Senator, Chief Ede Dafinone, representing Delta Central Senatorial District, Hon. Rev. Francis Ejiroghene Waive,representing Udu, Ughelli North and Ughelli South Federal Constituency; Hon. Mrs. Erhiatake Ibori-Suenu, representing Ethiope Federal Constituency and Hon. Barr. Benedict Etanabene, representing Okpe, Sapele, Uvwie Federal Constituency.
Senator Ede Dafinone who hailed the people for the reception and promised a robust representation, to among others ensure that the Sapele, Warri and Okhagbue Ports come to life again to provide development and employment in the Senatorial District said, “I am talking about the petrol subsidy, because that is something that affects all Nigerians across the country. The economy of the country is being squeezed and personal economies are also going through a difficult time.
“From the backdrop of the campaigns where all political parties agreed that the petrol subsidy must go, that it was impractical for this administration, even past administrations to continue to fund the subsidy especially as a lot of the subsidy that was being given by the government found its way across the borders.
“But the president’s intention was not to remove the subsidy immediately. It was an announcement made to give confidence to the international community and Nigerians that the right thing would be done in terms of the economy and in terms of the funds that would then be released by stopping the subsidy.
“But as soon as that announcement was made, the marketers immediately increased the prices and in view of the potential chaos that was starting to cause within the few days of the announcement, the president saw it deem fit to formally declare that the subsidy was gone. The palliatives that would have been put in place before the actual removal of subsidies, there was no opportunity to put them in place.
“The President is blamed for removing the subsidy without a plan but in truth, the public, the marketers had removed the subsidy before he had a chance to formally remove it and he was forced to make the decision public.
“At this point, now the government is putting together policies to ameliorate the situation. But Nigerians must be aware that the next one or two months will be difficult months, the petrol price may still go up again and we must be ready to spend wisely in an economy that will get worse before it gets better.
“So I ask you here as well, people to recognize that it may get worse still, and that belts must be tightened in preparation for what may be difficult, may be four to six months before recovery commences.
“We recognize also that the policies taken by this government so far will attract foreign direct investment and will make the economy of Nigeria more prosperous, but it will take some time and we must be patient with the government. The president has taken some bold steps and we must find support for the government to get things right once and for all.
“That being said, hold myself accountable as your representative if I may say so please, hold us all accountable. We are your representatives. You have sent us to the National Assembly to represent you. We must take the views of the Urhobo people to the National Assembly and make sure that the interests of all Urhobo people are taken care of in the National Assembly. It is our responsibility and we must be held accountable.”
On his part, Hon. Barr. Benedict Etanabene said, ” I do not believe that there is anything called subsidy in the petroleum industry in Nigeria. I have held this position since I was branch chairman of PEGASSON, I argued at the national level when the first increase was to take place that if there is petroleum subsidy, let us see it with our two eyes. And the only way we can determine that is to know how much our consumption of petroleum is. We should know how much we are importing into Nigeria and we will know where they’re going to and know the people they are paying such money to.
“Section 3 of the constitution provides what the duties of government mainly is which is provision of security. So there’s no thing in life government should not subsidise. Government should subsidise food, water, and petroleum should not be an exception.
“All these palliatives will not work. If we increase workers’ salary, even though I am not against that, how many persons are government workers in Nigeria? Less than five per cent. The N8,000 will also not work. I think the best palliative is the one everyone of us will enjoy which means bringing down the price of fuel to N65.”
