Eradiri Opposes Atiku’s Call For Return Of Fuel Subsidy

Former President of the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), Engr. Udengs Eradiri, has rejected former Vice-President and the 2027 Presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (NDC), Atiku Abubakar’s call for the return of fuel subsidy.

This was as he urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to redirect resources saved from subsidy removal towards revamping Nigeria’s refineries and strengthening Local Government autonomy.

Speaking on Tuesday in Yenagoa, Eradiri argued that the subsidy regime failed to achieve its intended objective of providing meaningful relief to Nigerians, insisting that returning it would not address the country’s economic challenges.

He called on the Federal Government to ensure that the funds saved from subsidy removal were invested in projects capable of reducing the cost of living and improving the welfare of citizens.

“I disagree with former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar’s proposal to return fuel subsidy. I think that the intended objective of having the fuel subsidy in the first place was not achieved, as it failed to bring succour to the people,” Eradiri said.

According to him, the immediate priority should be to ensure that all government-owned refineries operate at full capacity, stressing that increased domestic fuel production would boost supply, drive down petrol prices and ultimately reduce the cost of goods and services.

“I welcome the move by the President to ensure that all our refineries are performing at full capacity.

“He should direct the Petroleum Minister to relocate to the areas where our refineries are located and give them a timeframe to make them work,” he said.

Eradiri also suggested the creation of a separate Ministry of Refineries to ensure greater focus on resolving the challenges hindering the rehabilitation and effective operation of the nation’s refineries.

“It is also not out of place if the President creates a separate Ministry of Refineries to ensure absolute focus in tackling obstacles militating against our refineries’ growth and development,” he said.

He explained that the objective of restoring the refineries was not merely to produce petrol locally, but to increase supply sufficiently to bring down pump prices and trigger a wider reduction in the prices of goods and services.

“The essence of getting the refineries to work is to create excess supply of petrol that will force down the prices to create a spiral effect on goods and services. That is where the common man will benefit,” he said.

The former IYC president also accused state governors of undermining the gains of the Federal Government’s economic reforms by allegedly frustrating the implementation of the Supreme Court judgment on local government autonomy.

He urged the Federal Government to take decisive measures to ensure that local governments function as an independent tier of government, with their statutory allocations paid directly to them.

“The gains of the ongoing economic reforms by the President seem to be frustrated by the governors, the majority of whom have refused to implement the Supreme Court judgment on local government autonomy,” Eradiri said.

He further proposed that local government elections should be conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), arguing that such a move would strengthen the independence of the councils and reduce the influence of state governors over elected local government chairmen.

“It is time for the government to take over the local government administration to ensure it is another independent arm of government and ensure that the elections are conducted by INEC to enable their monies to go directly to the councils,” he said.

Eradiri also called for the establishment of a clear framework to guide local governments on the effective utilisation of their allocations for projects that would have a direct impact on residents.

He said council funds could be deployed to the construction of community roads, farm roads and other basic infrastructure capable of improving livelihoods at the grassroots.

“Local government funds of today can build community roads, farm roads and other things that can make a positive impact,” he said.

The former IYC president alleged that governors continued to exercise control over local government funds through their influence over council chairmen.

“Many of these governors don’t allow these monies to get to the local government because they still control their chairmen. They conduct the elections and tell the local government chairmen their shares of their allocations,” he alleged.

Eradiri said the situation was particularly troubling because the Federal Government was allocating more resources to the states without corresponding improvements in the living conditions of Nigerians.

“The President cannot be working hard, and his hard work will be sabotaged by the incompetence and greed of the governors.

“It is becoming painful that the President is working hard and putting a lot of money in states, but this money is not reflecting in the lives of the people. The strategy must change,” he said.