Presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, has reaffirmed his support for the removal of petrol subsidy while criticising the federal government over what he called poor management of the funds recovered from the policy.
Obi spoke on Monday at a conference organised by the Nigerian Bar Association in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. He argued that the subsidy had to go but should have been accompanied by measures to ease its impact on citizens.
“I subscribe and maintain that you need to remove subsidy. Mismanagement of the proceeds shouldn’t be the reason for not removing it,” he said.
According to Obi, the main failure lay in the absence of meaningful alternatives for Nigerians after the subsidy was scrapped. He said the savings should have been directed into sectors that improve living standards, particularly healthcare.
“What we should have done is that when we removed the subsidy, we would have given the people alternative usage for the subsidy,” he stated.
Obi claimed the government had reported recovering about N16 trillion from the policy but alleged the money had not been used effectively. “What we have today is that, that removal and the attendant resources being recovered is also being mismanaged and stolen. For example, we have received, according to them, N16 trillion,” he said.
He identified health as a priority area. “The number one thing a nation needs to develop is health. But today, our health is very poor, our primary care is very poor,” Obi said. He suggested that five per cent of the reported N16 trillion savings — about N800 billion — could have funded primary healthcare centres across the country’s wards and improved dialysis facilities.
The former Anambra governor also proposed that some of the funds could have been placed in Nigeria’s sovereign wealth fund rather than spent without sufficient accountability.
“People in government have asked Nigerians to fast. Okay. They cannot be feasting when Nigerians are fasting,” he added.
Obi’s remarks come amid ongoing debate over the effects of petrol subsidy removal, with political figures divided on whether the policy should be sustained, reversed or adjusted to reduce its burden on households and businesses.
