The Nigeria Christian Forum (NCF), a coalition of protestants and Catholic faithful on Monday threw its weight behind fuel subsidy removal, saying it’s one step the Federal Government must be courageous to take to salvage the nation from total collapse.
The NCF said there are indicators, which are strong enough to show that if the fuel subsidy which guzzles a whopping sum of N250 billion monthly was not removed now, the nation has allowed itself affliction that would continue to have a devastating effect on the economy, stating that the nation must be wriggled out of the burden at all cost
Speaking at a press conference in Abuja on Monday, Chairman of the Nigeria Christian Forum (NCF), Bishop John Mathew, who was flanked by other executives, lamented that “fuel subsidy” was an identified evil that must be tackled headon without sparing any effort.
The forum said the fuel subsidy regime was a creation of elites’ ‘pipelines’ to swindle the Nigerian economy. The elite, they said, some of who are no more in government, but hibernates and were monitoring developments within the oil downstream sector from the comfort of their hotel rooms to ensure they impose their will on the government.
The forum lamented that fuel subsidy was long over-due for complete removal, wondering if there are cartels that haven’t been conniving with some bad elements within the oil sector to frustrate the turnaround maintenances and rehabilitation of two ailing refineries.
They argued that the Nigeria National Petroleum Limited (NNPL) would be able to meet the target of daily fuel consumption of 56 million litres, if the refineries have been reactivated, noting that it would not be possible if the cartels behind the fuel subsidy regime were not dismantled.
The forum said: “For decades, one wonders, why the Federal government has failed in the turnaround maintenances of the two refineries, one in Kaduna and another in Portharcourt.
“If the refineries are working, there would be no need for the importation of fuel and it could be optimally produced locally which, of course, means there is no need for fuel subsidy, so we know where our challenges in the oil sector”
