The Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (CITN) at the weekend gave conditions that the federal government must fulfill before removing the petrol subsidy.
President of the institute, Adesina Adedayo, said prior to removing subsidy, the federal government must be transparent in telling the public how much is being spent on subsidy and areas the money realised from subsidy removal would be deployed to.
He stated this while responding to questions during the 3rd edition of CITN presidential briefing and media workshop for journalists in Lagos.
Daily Trust on Sunday reports that the federal government has secured a World Bank loan of $800m, saying N5,000 would be paid to 10m households for the next six months as palliatives.
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But speaking on the issue, the president said the government should focus more on economic development than the payment of N5,000 palliative which he noted was not sustainable.
According to him, “It is better to teach people how to fish than giving them a fish which only provides a temporary relief.”
He however agreed that fuel subsidy cannot continue indefinitely “because it is creating so many loopholes that others are exploiting.”
“So, the way to do it: let’s determine the extent of subsidy and where do we put the removed subsidy in terms of helping the economy so that people now realise they are paying less on what they used to pay more which is the essence of the social contract,” he said.
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