The former General Manager of Corporate Planning and Business Development at the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Babajide Soyode, has urged the Federal Government to halt the fuel subsidy payment regime to end the persistent scarcity of the product.
Soyode made this disclosure on Tuesday in an AriveTV interview monitored by Newsmen
He decried the outrageous cost of diesel in Nigeria compared with the price in neighbouring countries such as Ghana.
According to him, Nigerians are paying the highest cost of diesel in Africa.
“We spend subsidies to maintain the elite of this country; that is all we are doing. Even the elites no longer get it, but some people are taking it to squander in Dubai. I am saying, remove subsidy today heavens will not come down.
“All these things they are talking about are not true; diesel in Ghana is N549; do they have subsidies for diesel? Why are they paying N549, and we are paying N786? We are importing the product from the same market. I am not blaming IPMAN or NNPC if the government has screwed up the market by maintaining subsidies. You can quote me; the fuel scarcity situation will continue after December”, he stated.
Nigerians continue to grapple with the attendant implications as fuel queues resurfaced in Abuja, Lagos, Cross River, Akwa Ibom, and other major cities.