Luxury bus owners hail FG on subsidy removal, deregulation

The withdrawal of subsidy on petrol and the recent announcement of a new pump price for the product by the Federal Government have been hailed by the Association of Luxury Bus Owners of Nigeria (ALBON) as decisions that would have positive impact on the availability of the product to end users.

Reacting on the efforts by government to address the unending product scarcity, the president of ALBON, Dan Okemuo, disclosed that ALBON members were of the view that the removal of fuel subsidy would also result in massive private sector investment in the downstream sector of the oil and gas industry.

“It is self-evident that no private investor would invest huge sum of money in a sector that is heavily and rigidly regulated by the government,” Okemuo said.

The association, however, appealed to government to plough the savings from subsidy removal into the maintenance and rehabilitation of major highways across the country.

Last week while announcing government’s latest move to address the problem of availability of fuel in the country, Ibe Kachikwu, minister of state for petroleum resources, had disclosed that any Nigerian entity could now import PMS, subject to existing quality specifications and other guidelines issued by regulatory agencies.

Kachikwu said all oil marketers would be allowed to import petroleum on the basis of foreign exchange procured from secondary sources.

The ALBON president also said: “The association notes with satisfaction that the deregulation would ensure that petroleum products are readily available in the country, as it is envisaged that private investors would embark upon both the importation of petroleum products and the establishment of private refineries.

“However, as we support the removal of fuel subsidy, we also urge the Federal Government to channel the money that would be saved by this removal to the development of the nation’s infrastructures, especially the urgent repair and re-construction of major arterial roads across the country to enhance easy movement of people and goods across the country.”