An economic expert, Yusha’u Aliyu, says that Nigerians are expecting functional refineries to cushion the effects of subsidy removal on Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) popularly known as fuel.
Aliyu said this in an interview with newsmen in Abuja yesterday, in reaction to President Bola Tinubu’s live broadcast on Monday, on the country’s economic situation.
Nigerians have been faced with hardship and sufferings occasioned by the removal of subsidy on PMS by the current administration, while the country’s refineries in Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna are yet to begin operation.
Aliyu said that functional refineries would have solved all the contending issues surrounding the general inefficiency of the oil sector, but on the contrary, nothing of such was mentioned.
He expressed regrets on the president’s remarks on economic issues like subsidy, palliative, preferential exchange rate system among others, noting that they were the most disturbing in recent times. Aliyu, however, said that the simple terms required should have been functional refineries for lasting solution.
Recall that fuel was sold at N195 per litre before the deregulation but swiftly rose to N540 per litre shortly after the removal of subsidy which affected Nigeria’s economic situation.
In July, the fuel pump price was further increased from N540 per litre to N617 per litre and the increment was attributed to market realities.
