Itse Sagay, chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee on Corruption (PACAC) has urged President-elect Bola Tinubu not to remove upon assumption of office, noting that local refineries must function to full capacity before subsidy is removed to check cost.
The Federal Government had announced plans to stop fuel subsidy by June 2023. But Sagay says the incoming administration should consider a fresh budget for fuel subsidies until local production is achieved. He stated this in an interview on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics.
Sagay, a senior lawyer, also said that the incoming administration must tackle the spate of insecurity and killings across the land to bring peace which would aid the administration’s plans to reposition the country.
Read also: My campaign promises are not mere words – Tinubu
According to him, “The first thing is security. We have to secure this country so that we can do our farming and go about our businesses without fear.
“The second thing he has to do is with the economy. Petroleum, for example; I do not agree that subsidy should be removed without us producing refined petrol. Let him not be deceived.
“Anyone telling him to remove subsidy is trying to ground his party and make him unpopular. Subsidy must continue until refineries begin to work. When we start producing petrol in the country, the cost of petroleum products will drop sharply because most of these costs are due to transport.”
Speaking on the conduct of the 2023 general election, Sagay said: “In my personal opinion, in terms of representing the minds and wishes of Nigerians in an election, this is probably the best election we have had.
“So, we had good elections in 2011, 2015, and 2019. But in terms of representing or interpreting what Nigerians feel, 2023 is the best election we have had,” Sagay said.
“If you look at the ways things have gone with the BVAS (Bimodal Voter Accreditation System), the very idea that the APC was defeated in Lagos, that should make you realise immediately that these are credible elections.
Sagay further stated that he had confidence in Tinubu’s capacity to succeed as president of Nigeria, citing his achievements in Lagos as governor and those he handpicked to rule the state.
“I have lived in Lagos now for more than 30 years and have seen the transformation of the state from the military days to where we are now with infrastructure and railway service,” Sagay added.
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