PHOTO CREDIT: The Sun Nigeria / Seyi Makinde Media Office
Fuel Subsidy: Nigerians Should Not Pay for Government’s Failure to Secure Borders – Makinde
Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, says Nigerians should not be made to suffer high petrol prices because the Federal Government cannot secure the country’s borders.

Makinde said the long-running debate on fuel subsidy in Nigeria has been framed wrongly as a choice between paying subsidy or paying full market price.

Writing in his newsletter, The Business of Governance, the governor said the real question Nigeria should be asking is whether it has a fair and transparent petroleum pricing system that allows citizens of an oil-producing nation to benefit from their own natural resources.

According to him, the Federal Government must disclose all components that determine the pump price of petrol, including crude oil benchmark, refining costs and margins, exchange rate assumptions, logistics and distribution costs, as well as taxes and levies. He said transparency will allow Nigerians to understand and interrogate what they pay at the pump.

Makinde also faulted the argument that petrol must be expensive in Nigeria to stop smuggling to neighbouring countries.
“We should reject the argument that Nigerians must pay more for petroleum products simply to eliminate the price difference that makes smuggling into neighbouring countries profitable. Nigerians should not be made to bear the cost of government’s inability to secure its borders,” he said.
The governor announced that he will unveil an alternative pricing framework in the coming weeks under his “Reset Nigeria” initiative. He said the initiative will not only address petroleum pricing but also reforms in the economy, security, education, and institutions.

He noted that Nigeria’s challenges go beyond changing individuals in government, adding that weak systems and institutions that produce poor outcomes must be reformed.

“Reset Nigeria means being willing to interrogate the system itself,” Makinde said, stressing that rebuilding the country requires accountable leadership and active participation of all Nigerians.
SOURCE: The Sun Nigeria