Toluwani Eniola
The General Overseer of the Latter Rain
Assembly, Pastor Tunde Bakare, says the Federal Government did not
consult widely before increasing the price of fuel.
He also said the Save Nigeria Group was not against the economic arguments behind fuel subsidy removal in 2012.
Bakare said he and other pro-democracy
groups protested against the fuel subsidy removal in 2012 because they
wanted former President Goodluck Jonathan to investigate the subsidy
regime and recover stolen funds before commencing the discourse on
subsidy removal.
The cleric addressed journalists in Lagos on Sunday over the fuel price hike.
Bakare, in his address, entitled, “The
courage to do the right things,” said those who alleged that he kept
quiet on the fuel price hike were not sincere.
He said he was not politically motivated to join the protest in 2012 but to seek a better Nigeria.
According to him, the current situation
differs significantly from the “corruption-ridden 2012 subsidy crisis”
that he condemned then.
He said, “In 2012, we were not against
the economic arguments behind fuel subsidy removal. Instead, we wanted
the government to investigate the subsidy regime, bring culprits in the
maladministration of that regime to book and recover stolen funds before
commencing the policy discourse around subsidy removal.
“We have not changed our earlier
conviction in spite of a change in government. We have only acknowledged
that the new government has persistently demonstrated its
anti-corruption stance while seeking policy solutions to the economic
crisis, though there have been gaps in policy management.”
Bakare, however, said the Federal
Government should have consulted extensively with stakeholders and
embarked on enlightenment campaigns on the new pump price regime before
introducing it.
“We had expected that, in response to
our call earlier in the year, the government would have consulted
extensively with stakeholders and embarked upon extensive communication
and enlightenment campaigns across the social spectrum, with particular
attention to the middle class and the grassroots, on the new price
regime prior to its introduction.
“This would have been a better-received
sequence than the sudden policy introduction and the after-the-fact
approach to informing and enlightening Nigerians.”
In a series of recommendations to end
the impasse, the cleric said a Downstream Sector Bill should be sent to
the National Assembly to pave the way for a completely deregulated oil
sector.
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