From: Femi Oyelola Kaduna
Following the announcement of the removal of subsidy on premium motor spirit (PMS) by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu which took many by surprise, and threw an already impoverished population and struggling businesses into more hardship, the Coalition of Association for Leadership, Peace, Empowerment &Development (CALPED) has called on Nigerians while being very vigilant should give the government the benefit of doubt as the rollout of the palliative measures and reallocate savings from the subsidy removal;
The Head of Leadership, Governance, and Advocacy of CALPED Yusuf Ishaku Goje, stated this in a position paper submitted by the group at two Day Town Hall Meeting on how best citizens can benefit from Government fuel subsidy saving and other Federal Government policies organized by Partnership for Amplified Voices (Pam) supported by the World Bank, yesterday.
The group also urged citizens to leverage the Open Government Partnership (OGP) principles and commitments to demand participation, transparency, and accountability in the entire budget process to ensure proper utilization of subsidy savings and implementation of palliative measures;
Goje added that there is a need to leverage innovation and technology to increase participation, transparency, and accountability; generate evidence to name and shame officials, induct into the hall-of-shame, State and non-State actors involved in diversion and corruption in the utilization of subsidy savings and implementation of palliative measures; and
“They also advocated for the
strengthen State and Local Government level accountability mechanisms to deepen social accountability in public service delivery, especially in ensuring proper utilization of subsidy savings, implementation of palliative measures, and another ongoing social investment program.
“Engage both Federal and State legislators’ demand for proper representation, oversight, and audit of public accounts to ensure optimal utilization of subsidy savings.”
CALPED explained that the resultant removal of fuel subsidy has thrown many in Kaduna State into untold hardship with, a hundred percent hike in the cost of transportation, energy, and general inflation without a concomitant increase in wages or household income.
“Household income and consumption, due to devaluing of the Naira, reducing at an alarming rate.
“Out-of-pocket expenditure for social services such as healthcare increasingly becoming unbearable for the residents.
“Businesses, especially micro and small enterprises, gradually grinding to a halt due to the high cost of doing business; thereby exacerbating the rate of unemployment and underemployment, at 44% and 22% respectively.”
