…Says Fuel subsidy is organised crime
The presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 general elections, Peter Obi, has lamented the ‘dollarisation’ of the Nigerian economy.
Speaking yesterday, during an interview on a television programme on the state of the country, Peter Obi stated that the naira should have been devalued, adding that the use of the dollar in the country has led to unproductivity.
He said, “Dollar has become the underground currency of our economy; it shouldn’t be. We have a currency called the naira. All the things people use dollars to do that are not productive should be removed. Peter Obi further stated that the country should work more on exports to strengthen the currency.
On what approach he would have taken differently in resolving the looming strike by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC), he described fuel subsidy as an organised crime.
According to him, “I have said it repeatedly that it should be removed. For me, the approach would have been, is to remove the corruption and criminal side of it and remove the excess demand.
“By doing this, you would have reduced it by 50 percent. The remaining 50 per cent is what we would have been able to, after consultation with various stakeholders in order to find a way in an organised manner, remove and show the proceed of the gains of the removal to be invested in critical development areas”.
However, the former Anambra State governor added that he felt positive about Nigeria’s future.
