The Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG) has expressed support for the removal of fuel subsidies by the federal government.
Rising from a town hall meeting in Kaduna, the coalition urged Tinubu to investigate the fuel market chain and hold accountable all those involved in smuggling and hoarding of petroleum, as well subsidy scams’ regardless of their ranks or statuses.
It noted that the $15.6 billion spent annually on subsidies could build railways from Lagos to Kano, Port-Harcourt to Maiduguri, and Lagos to Calabar combined.
Reading the communique issued at the end of the meeting, the Chairman of the Communiqué Drafting Committee and spokesman of CNG, Abdul-Azeez Suleiman, said N2.91 trillion spent by the federal government on petrol subsidy between January and September 2022, was largely responsible for the country’s dwindling public finances.
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He said available data had exposed the unforgivable level of disabling corruption perpetrated with the subsidy regime in favour of a few individuals at the expense of public projects that cost less than Nigeria’s $15.6bn annual subsidy.
“Since Tinubu’s announcement of the removal of the fuel subsidy, the cartel that has been reaping its benefits at the expense of the suffering masses, has waged a campaign about the fictitious knock-on effects that it will have on the daily lives of Nigerians,” Suleiman added.
