Ex-presidential aspirant, Olawepo-Hashim urges labour, others to accept subsidy removal

Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim, a former presidential aspirant of the All Progressives Congress, APC, has urged labour unions and other groups to accept the removal of subsidy on petroleum products in Nigeria.

In a statement released by his media office in Abuja on Monday, the businessman described the subsidy removal as a painful surgery needed to save Nigeria’s economy.

According to him, “even if the subsidy is reversed, prices of goods and services will not be reviewed to their previous levels and it would be a loss to the economy.”

He added that “there cannot be any sensible talk about undoing what has been done but managing the pains of the adjustment on vulnerable groups such as labour, who do not have the price mechanism for their services to absorb the pain.”

Olawepo-Hashim said he had paid his workers a transport subsidy across board and urged the government of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and others to do the same.

He highlighted the benefits of the subsidy removal to be a massive investment in the mid and downstream sectors of the economy, which had been hitherto locked due to the subsidy regime.

These sectors, he argued, typically create millions of jobs and remain a critical section that add value to the economy.

He assured Nigerians that Tinubu would ensure the gains from the subsidy removal are well managed to benefit every Nigerian.

He described Tinubu as an ally of the working class, urging Nigerians to trust in his ability to move Nigeria forward.