FG’s finances would’ve become unmanageable if subsidy remained —Ex-AMCON boss

By Abubakar Yunusa

Mustafa Chike-Obi, former chief executive officer (CEO) of Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), says the finances of the federal government would have become unmanageable if petrol subsidy remained.
Chike-Obi, who doubles as chairman of Fidelity Bank, made the submission in a tweet recently.
The chairman, who described the removal as ‘partial’, said the stoppage of under-recovery payments “is very considerate”.
“Quite disappointed at so called financial experts mocking the apparent partial removal of pms subsidy. If we had remained at 190, FGN finances would have become unmanageable,” he tweeted.
“The pause in PMS prices is welcome and very considerate to the needs of the people.”
On May 29, President Bola Tinubu announced that “petrol subsidy is gone” — a pronouncement that immediately led to a hike in the pump price of the product across the country.
Since then, the price of petrol has been largely determined by market forces.
The move by the federal government has sparked widespread reactions, including strike actions.
On September 1, the NLC announced plans to embark on a nationwide strike to protest the hike in petrol pump price, electricity tariff, alongside other issues.