The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has urged Nigerians, particularly youths, not to support calls by some politicians to return to the fuel subsidy regime.
The students’ body stated that the emphasis should be on maintaining accountability in the utilization of savings from gasoline subsidy reduction rather than promoting a return to the subsidy regime.
Babatunde Akinteye, NANS’s National President, made the plea on Tuesday during a youth summit in Akure, the state capital.
The summit, sponsored by the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, was titled ‘Unlocking Ondo State students’ potential for economic growth.
The students’ body stated that the emphasis should be on maintaining accountability in the utilization of savings from gasoline subsidy reduction rather than promoting a return to the subsidy regime.
Babatunde Akinteye, NANS’s National President, made the plea on Tuesday during a youth summit in Akure, the state capital.
The summit, sponsored by the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, was titled ‘Unlocking Ondo State students’ potential for economic growth.
“We should monitor the money being saved from the removal of fuel subsidy and ensure it is channelled into projects and programmes that benefit all Nigerians instead of returning to a system where a few individuals cornered resources meant for the entire country,” he said.
During the subsidy era, Nigerians still faced fuel scarcity despite government spending. The student leader also noted that petrol prices had begun to decline before the outbreak of the Iran-United States conflict, which contributed to the recent increase in fuel prices.
He argued that restoring fuel subsidies would place an unbearable financial burden on the country, raising questions about where the resources would come from to sustain such payments.
” Previous administrations often resorted to borrowing to finance fuel subsidy and, in some instances, to pay workers’ salaries.
“Today, loans are largely tied to specific capital projects rather than recurrent expenditure such as salaries or fuel subsidy. We should not return to that era,” he declared.
The NANS president emphasized the importance of presenting practical plans for investing savings from subsidy removal to improve citizens’ lives, rather than simply promising to restore subsidies.
The Nigerian Education Loan Fund, for example, has benefited many students since the removal of fuel subsidies.
Akinteye also stated that provisions for fuel subsidy payments had already been removed from the 2023 Appropriation Bill prepared by the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari, and that both previous and current administrations had consistently stated that fuel subsidies were unsustainable.
” Proposals by some political gladiators to reintroduce fuel subsidy amounted to political rhetoric rather than realistic economic policy.
” Focus should remain on ensuring that savings from subsidy removal are prudently managed for national development rather than returning to a policy that had proved unsustainable” the NANS leader stated .
The All Progressives Congress has recently attacked former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar’s plan to restore the subsidy, while the African Democratic Congress challenged the Federal Government to account for the N15.8tn in additional revenues it said accrued from the reforms.
Prof Nentawe Yilwatda, the National Chairman of the APC, warned that Atiku’s proposal to return Nigeria to the old fuel subsidy regime could reverse the economic gains achieved through ongoing reforms, with negative consequences for workers’ wages, education, infrastructure, and state fiscal stability.
The APC national chairman, in a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media and Information Strategy, Abimbola Tooki, stated that the former Vise President’s proposal to reinstate fuel subsidies would return Nigerians to fuel queues, jeopardize the payment of the current minimum wage, and result in the cancelation of education grants for Nigerian students, among other negative consequences for the masses.
