Senators kick aganist fuel subsidy removal

Senators, yesterday, kicked against the proposed removal of fuel subsidy by President Goodluck Jonathan, even as Senate commenced a three-week vacation to mark the Christmas and the New Year festivities.
They spoke during the debate on the 2012 Appropriation Bill at the Senate.
Speaking, Senator Chris Ngige, ACN, Anambra who warned that any attempt to remove the fuel subsidy would not augur well for the well-being of the people, however, suggested that urgent action must be taken to reduce the country’s debt profile to release more money to the key areas of the economy.
According to him, “removing this subsidy will not solve our problems. Budgets are supposed to bring smile to the faces of the people but the attempt to remove subsidy will cause severe pain. The amount for servicing debt is too high. We must do something to reduce and avoid a recurrence of this high debt profile. Then, we can raise more funds for agriculture.
Also speaking, Senator Abubakar Tutare, PDP, Adamawa Adamawa who noted that the proposed withdrawal of fuel subsidy would further escalate the growing number of the unemployed, said: “If you remove subsidy, where is the promise that you are targeting employment generation?  Our people are suffering and now you want to bring more hardship on them. That is not fair on the people.”
On his part, Senator Anthony Adeniyi, ACN, Ekiti, said his people were against the removal of subsidy, saying the people would be negatively affected, adding: “My people are opposed to the removal of subsidy. If subsidy is removed, it will impact negatively on the ability of the people to power their businesses. In the past, when diesel was deregulated, we have not seen any benefits to the people.”
Also speaking on budget presentation, Senator Sunny Ugbuoji, PDP, who noted that  the process of budget preparation was not in consonance with standard procedure, said, ‘’the process of budgeting is not proper. We must change the process. Budget should come from the people who will be in the best position to monitor implementation.”
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