Local and state governments must take immediate action to mitigate the consequences of the elimination of fuel subsidies on their constituents, said Femi Falana, SAN, on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Friday.
Following President Bola Tinubu’s inaugural speech on May 29, in which he stated that “fuel subsidy is gone,” fuel prices surged across the country, prompting requests for palliatives to soften the policy’s consequences.
On June 7, President Bola Tinubu asked the National Economic Council (NEC), chaired by Vice President Kashim Shettima, to start working on measures to reduce the impact of subsidy removal on Nigerians.
A week later, the Federal Government revealed that the President had begun putting in place a structural approach to make available cheap fuel through compressed natural gas (CNG) and liquefied natural gas (LPG).
But Falana argued that the Federal Government alone should not be required to provide palliatives to the masses affected by the removal of subsidy.
The Senior Advocate of Nigeria cited the cases of Kwara and Edo states, where work days and school days, respectively, have been reduced to three days per week.
“I do hope that other governments are going to follow suit or devise other means to address the problems confronting our people, since all the state governors are clapping for the removal of fuel subsidy,” he said.
“The attention should not be on the Federal Government alone. State governments must intervene decisively. Local governments must also bring out their own palliatives to address the pains that have been inflicted on the Nigerian people.”