Conserve Your Energy, Fuel Price Will Still Go Up – Adebayo To Nigerians

The 2023 presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Adewole Adebayo, has said Nigerians chose the hardship and fuel price increase when they voted for President Bola Tinubu in the last election.

Adewole Adebayo said there was no need for Nigerians to cry over the current increase in price of fuel because President Tinubu had earlier stated he would remove fuel subsidy irrespective of opposition to it.

In an interview with Channels TV on Thursday, Adebayo explained that the fuel price would still increase because the current rate at which the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) sells the product is below the landing cost.

The SDP former presidential candidate noted that the call for reversal of fuel subsidy and reduction in the current pump price may not be realistic.

He said, “President Tinubu is not going to reverse any subsidy policy because of the following factors. One, he ran on the basis that he was going to remove subsidy. And his own vision of Nigeria, where Nigeria is going, prosperity and subsidy cannot coexist. And he made his case that if you like, you can go on rampage, you can go on demonstration, you can go on riot, you can go on anything. I will remove the subsidy and there’s nothing, I’m not going to change my mind.

“When I heard that, I said, I’m going to defeat this man in this election. Clearly, people are not going to vote for someone who wants to remove subsidy. And the same thing, the PDP candidate said he will remove subsidy, even sell NNPC. And the Labour candidate said he would also remove subsidy on day one. And they gave the same arguments, which we don’t have all the time for. That it was costing too much, that it was subsidizing pleasure, all of those arguments.

“Now, when the election results came out and they didn’t lose massively, the three of them got the highest vote, it shows to me that maybe Nigeria was not paying attention, but they were not too angry that somebody was going to remove subsidy. But when they started, when the policy was now official, I kept reminding people that you see this policy move, it’s going to cost you.

“And I said it about over a year ago that you will see price increase. If anybody is angry or tired, conserve your energy, because the price is traveling up. So, you can’t waste all your tears.

“So, the policy choice is this, that we had people who said we are going to remove subsidy. We had people who said don’t do it. Those who said they will remove it had their way. People have voted for them and they have removed it. What can you now do? You can’t go back and say reverse it. Because the structure for reversing it is not in your head.”

He continued, “So, what they are going to do is to be hiding the subsidy. Do you know that the reason why petrol is not ₦2,500 now is because President Tinubu is using the NNPC as sacrificial lamb, to burn the NNPC profitability, by using it to reduce the rate. They are still not selling it at the price which it is landing. So, that is the problem of saying we are now working with market forces.”