The Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr. Ibe Kachikwu has said that removal of petrol subsidy is unrealistic.
The ministerial nominee disclosed this on Wednesday October 14, 2015 when Senator Suleiman asked for his candid opinion on subsidy removal, during the Senate’s screening of ministerial nominees.
He spent over 1 hour, the longest, answering questions thrown to him by the Senators.
Senator @HunkuyiSuleiman asks for Dr. Ibe Kachikwu’s ‘honest thoughts’ on #Subsidy.
— Nigerian Senate (@NGRSenate) October 14, 2015
#MinisterialScreening
Ibe Kachikwu sternly rejects removal of subsidy calling it unrealistic.— Nigerian Senate (@NGRSenate) October 14, 2015
Kachikwu also said that subsidy removal will hurt the poor people, if palliative measures are not put in place to cushion the effect.
Seven months later on Wednesday May 11, 2016, Kachikwu as Minister of State for Petroleum announced the removal of fuel subsidy. He explained that the decision to remove the subsidy was reached after a meeting attended by the leadership of the Senate, House of Representatives, Governors Forum, and Labour Unions such as the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), Trade Union Congress (TUC), Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) and Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN). Kachikwu blamed the persistent scarcity of fuel being experienced in the country on the inability of importers of petroleum products to source foreign exchange at the official rate due to the massive decline of foreign exchange earnings of the federal government.
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