The Social Democratic Party (SDP) has supported the current administration of President Bola Tinubu’s removal of fuel subsidies, characterizing it as a courageous and positive move.
Thursday, the National Secretary of the SDP, Dr. Olu Agunloye, issued a statement in Lagos.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that President Bola Tinubu removed the price of gasoline at the pump on May 29, following his inauguration.
Agunloye stated that the removal of fuel subsidies could have a positive effect on Nigeria’s economic progress and development if handled properly.
The national secretary suggested that Tinubu implement well-considered implementation policies, programs, and projects that would result in a comprehensive deregulation process and multiple local refineries.
He stated that the government should also guarantee a general rise in national productivity and ultimate national competitiveness, which would result in a rapid improvement in the well-being and welfare of the populace.
Agunloye stated that the party understood that sometimes a nation must make difficult decisions to ensure its survival, and for Nigeria, that time had come.
He stated, “We recognize subsidies as fiscal instruments used by governments to promote economic development, typically to maintain commodity or product prices at a particular level.”
"It is a design that, when implemented correctly, becomes a tool for social justice consistent with the SDP Manifesto.
"Over the past 37 years, nine Presidents of the Federal Republic proclaimed the elimination of fuel subsidies but lacked the political will to do so.
“They lack the determination to accomplish this and have instead exacerbated the problems caused by the fuel subsidy, resulting in severe negative effects on the economy and the Nigerian people.”
“We have observed that for nearly four decades, successive governments of Nigeria have found fault with the need for fuel subsidies, but have made matters worse and been unable to effectively address the issues.”
Agunloye stated that if any of these nine previous governments of Nigeria had been an SDP government, it could have addressed the fundamental causes that led to these unsustainable petroleum industry subsidies based on its ideology of social justice.