CNPP urges caution in petrol subsidy removal, says APC worsening suffering

By Christiana Ekpa

Conference Of Nigeria Parties (CNPP) has urged the Federal Government to exercise caution in implementation of the its petrol subsidy removal, saying that the policy is worsening the suffering of the masses.
In a statement signed by its Deputy National Publicity Secretary, Comrade James Ezema, the CNPP noted that the All Progressives Congress (APC) has continued its “anti-people agenda under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration thereby worsening the suffering of the Nigerian masses.”
According the CNPP, “contrary to President’s recent tweet after his “subsidy is gone” inaugural declaration, which created the impression that the implementation of subsidy removal will commence at the end of June, the policy has taken immediate effect.
“The CNPP is therefore disturbed that without any cushioning scheme to mitigate the negative impact of the policy on the masses, the Federal Government has gone ahead to increase pump price of petrol nationwide.
“As desirable as subsidy removal on petrol may be, a government that has the masses at heart would have first put in place intervention programmes to ensure that Nigerians do not continue to suffer unduly.
“For instance, a total rehabilitation of the nation’s refineries or construction of new ones and introduction of subsidised mass transportation schemes as well as improvement on the nation’s railway system are just a few of such intervention schemes that should be in place before the total deregulation of the downstream sector of the Nigerian petroleum industry.
“We therefore call on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to reconsider the timing of his full implementation of the subsidy removal policy to first put in place measures that would reduce the burden of the policy on already impoverished masses of the country.
“With the unprecedented poverty and job losses in the last eight years of the previous APC administration, it may be catastrophic to increase the suffering of the masses without commensurate measures to enhance the welfare of the ordinary citizens”, the CNPP warned.