Fuel subsidy removal, threat to nation’s unity – ACN

Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, has rejected plans by the Federal Government to remove petroleum subsidy, warning that it would have far-reaching consequences not only to the sustainability of Nigeria’s democracy but the continued existence of the nation as a unified entity.
The party described the proposed subsidy removal as the handiwork of those propelled by the philosophy of the “Washington Consensus’ of rolling back the frontiers of the state.”
National Publicity Secretary of the party, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, in a statement, yesterday, condemned the reduction of the subsidy removal debate to a purely fiscal issue, without considering the responsibility of the government to improve the lives of the people through prudent management of state resources.
As a way out of the subsidy conundrum, the party proposed the establishment of modular refineries with a total of 280,000 barrels per day refining capacity in nine cities, to include Gusau, Enugu, Ibadan, Kano, Makurdi, Maiduguri, Lagos, Auchi and Gombe, in addition to reviving the existing ones.
According to ACN: ‘’Primarily, the basic objective of any fiscal policy is to improve the living conditions of the people through poverty reduction and the provision of welfare services. The removal of subsidy must therefore go beyond the cheap argument of improving the solvency of the government.
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