₦airaland Forum

– The fuel price increase is still a front-burner issue in Nigeria– Former minister of petro­leum and energy, Prof Tam David-West has added his voice to the debate– David-West is one of the vocal supporters of President Muhammadu BuhariThedecision of the federal government to remove petroleum subsidiesthereby increasing the pump price of a litre of fuel has not gone down well with Professor Tam David-West.A vocal supporter of President Buhari, the former minister of petro­leum and energy berated the Federal Government for in­creasing the price, saying it is nonsense and unjustifiable.Prof Tam David-WestSpeaking with Daily Sun yesterday, May 20, in Ibadan; the Oyo state capital, David-West stated that petrolcan be sold at N40 per litre in Nigeria.David-West had adopted the same stand before the 2015 general elections where he boasted that petrol will be sold for N40 per litre if Buhari was elected president.According to him, Petroleum Equalisation Fund (PEF), de­murrage, charges by Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), jetty and depot charges, retailer’s margin on petroleum, trans­porter’s margin on petroleum, dealer’s margin on petroleum, smuggling across borders, stor­age and so on were some of the additional charges put on the price ofPMS.

His words:“When I heard the minister of state for petroleum (Ibe Ka­chikwu), saying they smuggled ourpetrol across borders and that was the reason for the in­crease, it is nonsense. I used the word nonsensebecause during my time, we closed the bor­ders. If I could do it, he could do it too; and it is the same head of state (Buhari).“We ensured there was no petrol station several kilome­tres to the borders. Govern­ment would not approve fuel station that is close to the bor­ders. Another illogicality of that argument is if you sell petrol in Nigeria for N150 per litre, the peopleacross the borders are ready to pay N160; if you sell for N200, they are ready to pay N210. So, there will still be smuggling. So, increasing petrol price in Nigeria does not stop smuggling.”He noted further that“the fuel price increase is confusing. A government of­ficial said it is subsidy removal, which is not. Another one says smuggling, which is unten­able. Foreign exchange (Forex) was also mentioned, which is partially tenable because the country’s foreign exchange has gone down drastically. So, it is so difficult now to source forex to import fuel.“If I am into managing of oil and foreign exchange goes down, why should a man on the street pay for it? No matter the reason, N145 per litre is not justified. If they removed all the unnecessary additions on the price of petroleum such as bridging or Petroleum Equali­sation Fund, dealer’s margin, transporter’s margin, retailer’s margin, storage, depot margin, and NPA charges, petrol price will come down to N40 per litre.”He decried the confusion that has characterized the announcement of the policy, stating that the national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief John Odigie- Oyegun and Kachik­wu said the hike in fuel price was necessitated by subsidy removal, but the Vice Presi­dent, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, said itwas because of foreign exchange.He said:“What they are doing is embarrassing to him. Buhari has saidit repeatedly that there is no subsidy.I stand by him that there is no subsidy as such. If you say you have come to remove subsidy, will you re­move what does not exist?“Kachikwu, I don’t know him and I have never met him before; he is brilliant from his CV (Curriculum Vitae). I re­spect him for his CV. He has got a very beautiful CV. But sometimes, he says things that are, to me, outrageous.“A business man runs a business to make profit. Gov­ernment should encourage businessmen to be in business by allowing them not to run at a loss. Government also has a responsibility to make sure that businessmen do not ex­ploit the people.“Right now, we are interested more in businessmen making profit while they (gov­ernment) turned their back to common man being exploited or suffering.”

Meanwhile,the Vehicle Owners Association of Nigeria (VOAN) has condemned the decision by the federal governmentto remove the petroleum subsidy, in the face of socio-economic hardship being experienced in the country.The group also called for immediate reversal of the policy which it described as“obnoxious and anti-people”;even as it enjoined President Buhari to urgently summon a stakeholders meeting in other to find lasting solution to the energy crisis instead of resorting to piece-meal approach in solving the problem.

Source code-Naij.com

OP, put source abeg ..make I use plank for this guy head

ok

guys what do you have to say about this?? Cc Lalasticlala FP pls

Pls PMB resign as pet minister and put Tom west with immediate effect

colosa:
Pls PMB resign as pet minister and put Tom west with immediate effect

you might have a point there

Are you kidding me !

one by one eveybody is wailing... d change we expected from d general has turned t chains in our leg. we have nevr had this bad bfore. rich are wailing poor ones are wailing nobody is finding it easy. still can't believe I bought rice 17k 2day. fuel 145, garri 700, how do we cope. pmb doing d right thing at d wrong time. God pls give us strngt at ds trying time. it shall b well.God bless Nig.

This david West should better keep quiet.
We are still vexing for him.

fake news where is link to the source.

Prof David-West is one person that was sceptical about the existence of subsidy so how could he criticise its removal?

dunkem21:
OP, put source abeg ..make I use plank for this guy head

A jail straight ooooooo

Won't comment until them sack LVG just like Sheriff

worksmart:
fake news where is link to the source.

Prof David-West is one person that was sceptical about the existence of subsidy so how could he criticise its removal?

did you buy today's sun newspapers

old fool that can't see beyond his nose!!