Subsidy Removal: FG tells masses to suffer for better future but things usually get worse – Obi

The Labour Party presidential candidate, (LP) Peter Obi says he supports the removal of subsidy on Premium Motoring Spirit, PMS, but added that it must be done the right way.

He said that he’s always backed the removal of subsidy right from the former President Goodluck Jonathan era, when he was a member of the Economic Management Team.

The former Anambra governor, however, expressed concern with the manner that President Bola Tinubu announced the removal without introducing measures to cushion the effect.

Obi stated this via his Twitter account on Tuesday, June 6th, adding that it has been a pattern for the government to tell the people to endure and suffer the momentary challenges for the sake of a better future, but the situation often gets worse.

He said; “I’ve actually been in support of the removal of subsidies right from the President Goodluck Jonathan era, when I was a member of the Economic Management team.

If you have followed me very well right from the time I was a member of Jonathan’s economic management team, I consistently maintained that subsidy should be removed because I see it as organized crime. People were just stealing the resources of the country and I showed it empirically in my statistical analysis that we were not consuming the amount of fuel they claimed we consumed.

I also gave them the “tooth pain” removal analogy that if you approach a dentist to remove a painful tooth, he will apply a local anesthetic to numb the area around the tooth so you do not feel pain. It’s not the same thing as pulling the tooth forcefully, the pain you feel will be different. For me, I will go with the approach of the dentist, while supporting the removal of the tooth because I wouldn’t want to go through the pain of a forceful removal. Recall that even when Jonathan’s government wanted to remove it they came up with various relieving policies like Sure-P and others.

If you read my manifesto you will see clearly how I planned to remove subsidies. I will govern with the people and show them statistically and empirically what we are going to save, and what we are going to do using the savings to better the suffering masses.

The problem in Nigeria is that often government tell the masses to suffer and sacrifice, for a better future; but in future things gets worse.”