Oil subsidy: Saraki urges mass public education

THE senator representing KwaraCentral senatorial district and former governor of Kwara State, Senator Bukola Saraki, has called for mass public education among various sections of Nigerians on the need for the removal of fuel subsidy on petroleum products in the country.Speaking with journalists in Ilorin at the weekend, Senator Saraki said the measure would help government to inform people on benefits inherent in the removal of oil subsidy and thus win their confidence.Saraki, who said the current spending of over N1.1 trillion as against N600 billion last year by government is suffocating to government, added that the spending on subsidy was more than the entire capital budget.'We should gain the confidence of Nigerians so that they won't think the money will be embezzled. Definitely, everyone will be able to see where government is going, that no matter what we have to do to get to a point we have to stop fuel importation. If we produce, we can be able to subsidise, but we are not. Other countries being compared with Nigeria like Venezuela and Saudi Arabia are producing locally.'Government has to be as transparent as possible. Let's get it to the point of people believing that this thing that I can now afford and enjoy is because of removal of subsidy. The shout of no, no, no is because people had lost confidence,' he said.He added that Nigerians should be made to understand that though they could not get the subsidy physically but that they could see it in terms of the provision of infrastructure.The former governor decried the way and manner some cartels in the country had milked the economy dry, which he said had hitherto affected the socio-economic growth of the nation.He pointed out that the panel set up by the National Assembly to look into the alleged fraud would assist Nigerians to know those behind the economic stagnation of the country and thereby correct the situation.
Click here to read full news..