The Social Democratic Party (SDP) has supported the current administration of President Bola Tinubu regarding the withdrawal of petroleum subsidies, characterizing it as a courageous and positive move.
Thursday in Lagos, the National Secretary of the SDP, Dr. Olu Agunloye, made the remark.
On May 29, following his inauguration, President Bola Tinubu proclaimed the elimination of gasoline outlet prices.
Agunloye stated that the withdrawal of petroleum subsidies could have a positive effect on Nigeria’s economic progress and development if handled properly.
The national secretary of the SDP stated that Tinubu should enact well-considered implementation policies, programs, and projects that will result in a comprehensive deregulation process and multiple local refineries.
He suggested that the government should also guarantee a general increase in national productivity and ultimate national competitiveness, which would result in a rapid improvement in the well-being and welfare of the populace.
Agunloye stated that the party understood that a nation must sometimes make difficult decisions in order to ensure its survival, and that the time for Nigeria to do so had arrived.
He stated, “We recognize subsidies as fiscal instruments used by governments to promote economic development, typically to maintain commodity or product prices at a particular level.
“It is a design that, when implemented appropriately, becomes an instrument for social justice in accordance with the SDP Manifesto.
“We have observed that nine consecutive Presidents of the Federal Republic over the past 37 years have proclaimed the elimination of petroleum subsidies but lacked the political will to do so.
“They lack the resolve to accomplish this and have instead exacerbated the ill effects of the fuel subsidy on Nigeria’s economy and populace.”
“We have observed that for nearly four decades, successive governments of Nigeria have found fault with the reasons for the need for fuel subsidies, but have continued to make matters worse and have been unable to address the problems in a constructive manner.”
Agunloye stated that if any of these nine previous administrations of Nigeria had been an SDP government, it could have addressed the fundamental causes that led to these unsustainable petroleum industry subsidies in accordance with its ideology of social justice.
