Ending Petrol Subsidy Inevitable, Says MOMAN
By The Evangelist news, September, 2, 2022.
Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) has said ending subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) will be extremely difficult, but that the Federal Government has no other option in light of current economic realities.
MOMAN called for massive investment by the government in various sectors such as mass transportation, healthcare and education to successfully dissuade Nigerians from petrol subsidy.
Its Chairman, Olumide Adeosun, made this call at the just-concluded Association of Energy Correspondents of Nigeria (NAEC) Strategic International Conference, in Lagos.
Adeosun spoke on the topic: “Energy Transition, PIA, Petroleum Pricing and the Way Forward for the Downstream Sector.”
Adeosun, who was represented by the Chief Executive Officer, Clement Isong, said it would remain very difficult to wean Nigerians off cheap PMS, also known as petrol.
He said: “It is something that must be done as there are no more viable options. We are told that this year the subsidy bill to the Federal Government may be between N5 trillion and N6 trillion. Clearly, Nigeria cannot afford this.
“To wean Nigeria off this subsidy, a lot of investment must be done to sensitise Nigerians in convincing them and finding alternatives. We need to begin to remove the subsidy and mitigate the pains Nigerians will feel when petroleum prices begin to manifest their true value.”
He said the marketers were optimistic that the industry was headed in the right direction with the enactment of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021, which an excellent piece of legislation.
“We are now at the point of implementation, which is taking a bit longer than hoped, but this is not necessarily a bad thing. The President postponed the implementation of free market pricing, which has caused a slowdown with respect to benefits expected from free competitive open market pricing, such as new investments and subsidy removal,” he said