In his January 7, 2011, address to the nation, President Goodluck Jonathan appealed to Nigerians to trust him and support his decision to withdraw fuel subsidy which has had predictable multiplier effects on the prices of goods and services, and plunged the country into chaos. In that address, the president said:

“Let me seize this opportunity to assure all Nigerians that I feel the pain that you all feel. I personally feel pained to see the sharp increase in transport fares and the prices of goods and services. I share the anguish of all persons who had travelled out of their stations, who had to pay more on the return leg of their journeys, The interest of the ordinary people of this country will always remain topmost in my priorities as a leader. I remain passionately committed to achieving significant and enduring improvements in our economy that will lead to sustained improvement in the lives of our people… As I ask for the full understanding of all Nigerians, I also promise that I will keep my word.”

Also, since the debate or monologue about fuel subsidy removal began around September 2011, key government officials and supporters of the idea have asked Nigerians to trust the President and to swallow the bitter pill without questioning its rationale. The de facto “Prime Minister”, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke and other members of the Jonathan’s Economic Team have traversed the length and breadth of the country insisting that Nigerians just need to trust that the decision to remove fuel subsidy is in the best interest of Nigerians and that the government should be trusted to use the so-called subsidy savings to provide all the good things that are missing in the lives of Nigerians such as: quality education, infrastructure, health care, security, employment etc. ala the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme (SURE).

Conversely, most ordinary Nigerians and the not-so-ordinary-but-reasonable Nigerians have wondered how they can trust the Nigerian government – this one, and any Nigerian government – given that they have been down this very familiar road of endless subsidy removal and national plundering so many times. From IBB to OBJ, every fibre of trust in the government has been destroyed by persistent, flagrant and repeated disregard for political and constitutional promises to the Nigerian people.


As Nigerians resist the imposition of the fuel subsidy removal through protests and strikes that is now grinding the country to a halt, what is emerging from commentators and observers is that there are more questions than answers on the subject of fuel subsidy. Nigerians have lots of questions that have either not been answered or have indeed been ignored by Jonathan’s officials. Therefore, if indeed the President and his team are honest and sincere to Nigerians, and wants the trust of the people, they might want to answer the following questions:

1. Government officials including the Minister of Finance, the Minister of Petroleum Resources and the CBN Governor, have indicated at several forums over the past months that the cost of subsidy during 2011 jumped from 240 billion naira that was budgeted to about 1.3 trillion naira. Given that this is a sudden and drastic departure from the cost trends in the immediate past couple of years, the question is, what is responsible for this jump and what effort has been made to ascertain the true quantity and cost of fuel that was imported and consumed by Nigerians in 2011? And if nothing has been done, why not?

2. Normally, if a situation arises in which the cost of a service or contract suddenly jumps by about 400%, the logical thing that “normal” people will do is to investigate the jump, find the causes and take necessary actions to identify if any wrong has been done. And if any wrong has been done, the next logical step is to identify person(s) or institution(s) responsible and seek appropriate remedy under the law. Rather than rush to remove the subsidy and trigger the attendant crisis in which we are now embroiled; why has the government not followed this logical approach by first determining the causes and culprits responsible for the astronomical cost of fuel subsidy during 2011?


3. While many Nigerians do not agree that the subsidy regime and fuel importation as constituted since 2006/2007 is the way forward for Nigeria, the annual cost of fuel subsidy from 2007 to 2010 has been “tolerable” - never rising above 240 billion naira. What explains the jump from 240 billion naira that was budgeted to about 1.3 trillion naira in 2011? As many Nigerians will recall, to prosecute the 2003 elections, OBJ, Atiku and PDP connived with Julius Berger to inflate the Abuja Stadium contract in order to fund the war chest for OBJ’s second term in 2003. Mr. President, is it true that this time around the Presidency and PDP has connived with the oil cabals to inflate and divert money from the subsidy funds to finance the PDP Presidential Primaries and the April 2011 Elections which have been adjudged to be the most expensive political exercise in Nigeria’s history? Was the 2011 subsidy funds used to finance the April Elections?

4. Although an official investigation has not been conducted, many government officials including the Minister of Finance, the Minister of Petroleum Resources and the CBN Governor have admitted in the media that the reason the subsidy cost for 2011 jumped to about 1.3 trillion naira is fraud and plundering of monumental proportion by a “powerful cabal” – something that is radically different from the previous years. Why then, is the government reluctant to arrest and prosecute the so-called cabal instead of simply removing fuel subsidy and arguing that its removal is the only solution? Is the government trying to cover the tracks and destroy the evidence leading to the conspiracy between PDP and the cabals?

5. The President has established two committees headed by elders Belgore and Kolade to pursue what might be considered a circus of sort. Many Nigerians would agree that the services of these “credible” Nigerians could have been better utilized as co-chairs of a committee to investigate the “2011 Fuel Subsidy Shame”. The government could then take the outcome of such investigation to chart the way forward on the fuel subsidy regime as well as prosecute the culprit cabals. Why did the government failed to follow this logical approach; is it because they already know the answers?


Richards wrote from Toronto, Canada

http://dailytrust.com.ng/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=152265:mr-president-was-the-2011-subsidy-fund-used-to-finance-the-april-elections&catid=7:opinion&Itemid=12

of course

when u spend 1 billion naira on a night party in aso rock then yes

yes

Did anyone have time to read all that ?
[img]http://1.bp..com/-jPaPkN9kCCg/Twb2IEuuXiI/AAAAAAAAABc/JsqU0wwVLFA/s280/Senator.jpg[/img]

Yes. I read it. You should too and try and address the issues.

yes

it was no news Jo-boy was spending 100m naira daily for campaigns now we pay the price, pathetic country with pathetic armed forces

Nigerians are more corrupt than the Nigerian present government.

IT  IS IMPOSSIBLE TO GET CORRECT  DATA IN ANY NIGERIA SYSTEM.

the society is rotten

Yes of course, what did you expect before?

with phy d phy, anything is possible

of course

when u spend 1 billion naira on a night party in aso rock then yes

and how much billions spent seeking third term by obj? Where is the extra oil revenue due to high oil price during IBB time. All those period, Nigeria was never occupied and no boko haram. Hypocrites! You only deceive yourself thinking your ulterior motives are unknown.

It is impossible for him to use his personal fund when he had access to free funds (Federation Account, Reserves etc) .The simple answer to that question is yes and that is why he is looking for avenue to recoup part of the money spent through petrol subsidy

This question is coming a little too late.

Illiterates talking bull on here. If he needed money to recoup his election cost, he doesnt need to go thru this ordeal. Just collaborate with the oil importers and get kick backs. Or better still bring in his boys to join the oil cabal and do the normal over invoicing thing. Why go thru all this stress and receive so much insults for something that simple? Otedola and Co. would have been more than willing to play ball. I guess your fish brain didnt consider that eh?

yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! the guy is a scam he is usin nigeria to aid his calamity foooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooolllllllllllllllllllllsssss

y do we in nigeria go in inconsistent circles? from a problem tru confussion, back to the problem. instead of from the problem tru solutions to the problem then to normalcy, y not we fight the problem wit knwn solutions instead of deceiving our selves we should have protested against the supposed cabal instead of bleming it on a well conceived policy?

I have said in many fora that the subsidy money was used to fund the 2011 election that brought in JEG. There's need to balance account now. Okonjo Iwela is left holding the can. Sanusi know where this money disappeared to and so does PDP top members and financial. JEG knows that if push comes to shove, the shit will hit the fan. So it is better to issue veiled threats and blame the opposition or any visible Nigerian who asks too much questions or poke his nose where it does not belong.

dmainboss:

Illiterates talking bull on here. If he needed money to recoup his election cost, he doesnt need to go thru this ordeal. Just collaborate with the oil importers and get kick backs. Or better still bring in his boys to join the oil cabal and do the normal over invoicing thing. Why go thru all this stress and receive so much insults for something that simple? Otedola and Co. would have been more than willing to play ball. I guess your fish brain didnt consider that eh?

This quote is not in support of the GEJ, it is actually doing more damage because you are indirectly saying all the allegations are true and he still would not do anything

OP,

Govt does not need to use subsidy fund for elections.

As a citizen, are you privy to how much actually enters Nigeria's coffers from crude sales, non-oil exports customs duty, FIRS, telecoms licensing fees, taxes paid by oil companies, education tax, etc?

Is there an independent way of verifying the figures always reeled out by the CBN governor and the Finance Ministry technocrats?

There is a lot about Nigeria that its citizens have to start concerning themselves with. For me, the gain of this strike was not the price reduction, but the fact that light is beginning to shine on areas of Nigeria's wealth that were hitherto hidden from public domain.

I believe so too!

It was definitely used 4d election.d increase to 1.3tr defies reason

It was definitely used 4d election.d increase to 1.3tr defies reason

Actionleap:

I have said in many fora that the subsidy money was used to fund the 2011 election that brought in JEG. There's need to balance account now. Okonjo Iwela is left holding the can. Sanusi know where this money disappeared to and so does PDP top members and financial. JEG knows that if push comes to shove, the poo will hit the fan. So it is better to issue veiled threats and blame the opposition or any visible Nigerian who asks too much questions or poke his nose where it does not belong.

But let's come to think of it; GEJ spent huge money in order to win 2011 election(I blv he spent it for some stuupid Nigerians by giving them biscuit and water).Then we were telling ppl that nothing good can ever come out of PDP or from obj. It's just painful that it's not only those that sold their freedom and future to PDP and GEJ that'r paying now!

IF U ASK ME, I CAN SAY IT AGAIN AND AGAIN THAT I"m not expecting anything better from this govt,  IT'S PAY BACK TIME for Nigerians(including those that preached against voting for GEJ/PDP).

I WILL NOT BE SURPRISED, IF IN 2015 GEJ/PDP WINS ELECTIONS AGAIN bcs majority of Nigerians are interested in what they'r getting now(short time) no matter how small.

SMH 4 NIJA!!!

one would have been expecting a corrupt free man to drastically cut down the high cost of running this very expensive democracy the time he became president, but alas he entered and swam even in the corruption pool. this jonathrash ebele azikiwe is a mess, a very corrupt fool.

We were preaching it to ppl that it's never enof to think about from where sm1 is b4 u vote 4 the person; that what should be the primary consideration is what can the person do and on which platform/the precedence of the platform on which the person wants to contest.

GEJ use to say " I HAD NO SHOES" to deceive ppl that he was from a poor background and understands what it is to be poor. Ppl fell foe him bcs they 4gt that his boss OBJ came from prison and ppl thot sm1 just coming out of prison should know what suffering is like and got huge disappointment.

Blv it or not, with the type of Nigerians psyche, PDP can sell GOAT to them and they'd vote for the goat They can tell Nigerians: u know its a goat and all it knows how to it is cassava/grass, sleeping on the ground is ok for the goat. That 4 that reason it'd mng ur resources very well

2015 would soon be here, sb should mark my word.

Ask me, I'll vote the likes of Sanusi, Utomi, Fashola, Ribadu, Fola(former MD of GT Bank) even Aigboje-aig(MD Access Bank), Buhari-tho old now and so on against any person presented by PDP. These ppl, esp (Sanusi and Ribadu whom understand politics) are very sound in terms of will to deliver, mgt expertise and economic/social implications of actions taken by them or ppl they work with unlike GEJ whom they always give instructions on what to do and script to read whenever anything happens.

NIGERIANS!!! YE BETTER START THINKING

Heard Wale Tinubu , Asiwaju crony in OANDO also funded that big election party. He was the biggest beneficiary of the fraudsidy

The OP's question must be rhetorical.

[size=14pt]He did not only use the subsidy money but he and his Cabal-Governors also looted the $23Billion in the EXCESS CRUDE ACCOUNT, just before that election.!
[/size]

The "excess amount" is between the BUDGETED selling price of crude oil at the international market and the ACTUAL price it was sold at the time of selling, an amount that raised increased by almost 85%, from $60 budgeted to $115 actual S.P).

[size=14pt]Bloody, shoeless thief![/size]

Lastpage!

It's interesting to see how this whole subsidy drama has panned out, when you look at it.
In many ways, the masses are the winners, even if they don't agree. Forget labour; they were always going to compromise anyway, and there was the ethnic card.

The government has committed itself to a few things: prosecution of the so-called cabal and its allies, signing the PIB (albeit in a docile state), and also the price change: 97 naira is still a helluva lot better than 141 naira.

I recommend we all lick our wounds and move on.