Nigeria Suppose To Have Stopped Oil Subsidy As Far Back As 10 Years Ago – Sanusi Lamido.

By Seyifunmi Odunuga.

The former Emir of Kano, Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi has said that If we are honest to ourselves and anyone who studied economies, the controversial oil subsidy should have stopped as far back as 10 years ago.

The former Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) was of the opinion that “As a result of COVID-19, Nigeria has finally come round to being realistic; we were paying billions of dollars as subsidy.

“It’s been going on for 20/30 years and we complained about the economic situation we were in today, but there is nothing that surprises me.”

Mallam Sanusi stated further, “If we are honest to ourselves and anyone who studied economies could see that this subsidy we needed to end it. It’s something we could have stopped as far back as 10 years ago not just with this government, but with the previous governments.

“In the last few months, this government has started implementing certain reforms that if we continue along those lines, we will begin to see the light.

“Removal of fuel subsidy is one; the adjustment in electricity tariff is another. But fundamentally, look at NNPC, this government has for the first time in more than a decade published audited accounts of NNPC for 2018.”
He noted that, We may not like what we see in terms of the spending right now inside NNPC, but at least let us have some kind of visibility of what happens there?”

“These are reforms that need to be pushed; we need to understand that the government does not have the balance sheet to continue with the father Christmas situation that we had over the last decade or so.
“I wish we have done this earlier but we are here now and this is being done and we need to commend.”