Oil subsidy: Consider long term positive gains not negative effects‐ Guber aspirant appeal to NLC

By Editor

June 4, 2023

Dr Joseph Ikpea,a governorship aspirant on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2024 gubernatorial election in Edo State has appealed to organized labour in the country to take a critical look on the long term positive effects of the removal of oil subsidy on the economy and the people. 

Ikpea, former commissioner in the state and  local government chairman, also called on the leadership of the organized labour and other stakeholders not to prioritize the immediate hardship or displeasure the policy will cause the citizens. 

He, however, called on  president Bola Ahmed Tinubu to, as a matter of urgency, constitute a powerful economic team that would study the possible effects of the subsidy removal. 

He said the team will help to design a possible and implementable policy aimed at cushioning the effects of the withdrawal as well as be in the know of the movement and usage of the saved subsidy funds. 

The governorship hopeful made the appeal in a statement made available to newsmen in Benin City on Sunday. 

According to him, It takes the heart of a determined government which is bold and  resolute to put an end to the unbridled  official corruption to venture into the muddy waters of subsidy, not minding the likelihood of corruption fighting back. 

"To President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, there may not have been another better time to tell the 'economic worm cabal' which has almost crippled the nation's economy at the expense of the masses that it is no longer business as usual 

"It is a statement of fact that except for an indepth understanding of the elementary laws of demand and supply operation in such an economy like Nigeria, one may not understand the principles behind the subsidy withdrawal. 

"The simple economic laws of demand and supply could best be explained as it affects  our current situation to be that, in every competitive market, prices of same item or products from different companies are determined by market forces of demand and supply", he said. 

Ikpea who is  an indigenous oil services operator, and a former Commissioner for minerals, oil and Gas in Edo state noted that the 

issue of fuel subsidy is a recurring decimal in Nigeria's oil industry. 

He opined that the oil subsidy issue had been a thorn in the flesh of past administrations to the extent that lacked the political wills to take action on  the removal or otherwise of subsidy. 

He added that there had been various postulations as to the operational modus of the oil subsidy. 

"To some, subsidy is a " scam" operated by a cabal in the various sectors of the economy, including the CBN, Multinations, oil and gas operators among others. 

"While to another school, subsidy is a conduit and draining pipe to psyphoon funds budget ted and allocated for the purpose without any sign of delivery. 

"This has been the modus as the cabal only divert the subsidy without correspondent supply of product originally designed to cushion whatever economic hardship Nigerians may be facing. 

"The simple economic laws of demand and supply could best be explained as it affects  our current situation to be that, In every competitive market, prices of same item or products from different companies are determined by market forces of demand and supply. 

"If demands are high and the supply low then the  price will go up. But if demands are low and supply high, the prices will come down. 

"We should also consider that if demands for the same goods produce by different organizations are high, both prices will go up, but for more market penetration one of the firm may decide to go for market promotion or other strategies to make it break even", he argued.