The Centre for Human and Socio-economic Rights, CHSR, has advised newly-inaugurated President Bola Tinubu, not to remove fuel subsidy until proper measures to cushion the effects are put in place.
Its National President, Alex Omotehinse, who gave this advice in a statement on Tuesday in Lagos, said that immediate removal of subsidy would be insensitive to the current economic hardship.
According to him, the president should not have declared fuel subsidy removal in the inaugural address, as the pronouncement had launched masses into more hardship, less than 24 hours after he took over.
He said that Nigerians were already traumatised in the last few weeks because of harsh economic policies.
According to him, CHSR is worried that the new administration appears to have disregarded the collective feelings of Nigerians.
Mr Omotehinse said that both the labour movement and cross section of Nigerians have clamoured for people-friendly implementation of the policy to avoid unmitigated inflation.
He urged that the new President should not “compound the harrowing hardship citizens are already subjected to”.
The activist urged the president to rather be vehement about curbing corruption and reduce waste associated with flamboyant cost on governance.
According to him, the declaration about subsidy has brought pains and anguish to Nigerians with renewed scarcity and excessive hike in cost of fuel.
Mr Omotehinse urged the new administration not to chase shadow but rather address the immediate challenge of bad governance around corruption, nepotism, insecurity and poverty alleviation.
Recall that Mr Tinubu, in his inaugural address on Monday, said that fuel subsidy had gone, the development that brought sudden queues and hike in pump price of Premium Motor Spirit (Petrol) nationwide.
NAN
