By George Mgbelele <\/p>\n
The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) unequivocally supports the restoration of a transparently administered fuel subsidy as a temporary social protection measure, especially at a time millions of Nigerians are struggling under the crushing weight of rising fuel prices and the escalating cost of living.<\/p>\n
HURIWA maintains that fuel subsidy, in itself, is not evil. What was fundamentally wrong was the fraudulent manner in which the scheme was administered and hijacked by profiteers, scammers, and politically connected interests who allegedly turned it into a cesspool of corruption.<\/p>\n
The removal of subsidy, therefore, should not become an excuse to transfer the burden of economic mismanagement and corruption to ordinary Nigerians.<\/p>\n
HURIWA makes it clear that we support accountability, transparency, and genuine economic reforms. But any reform that impoverishes millions of citizens while the government can not convincingly account for the enormous resources it says it has saved and demands urgent reconsideration.<\/p>\n
The recent declaration by former Vice-President and African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, that he would restore petrol subsidy if elected president in 2027 has further exposed the urgent need for a national conversation on the true cost and consequences of subsidy removal.<\/p>\n
Atiku has questioned the whereabouts of the funds saved since the policy was removed and argued that the resources should have been used to reduce poverty, improve education, tackle insecurity, and create opportunities for young Nigerians<\/p>\n
HURIWA considers this question legitimate and unavoidable.<\/p>\n
The federal government has claimed that subsidy removal generated N15.8 trillion in resources for the federation between June 2023 and December 2025. Yet the Allied Peoples\u2019 Movement (APM) has petitioned the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the National Assembly over an alleged N12 trillion discrepancy in the figures.<\/p>\n
This is not an issue the government should dismiss as mere partisan politics.<\/p>\n
HURIWA demands that the federal government tell Nigerians, with verifiable documents, exactly how much it saved from subsidy removal, how much it distributed among the three tiers of government, and how the funds were ultimately spent.<\/p>\n
We demand a comprehensive and independently verifiable audit of all revenues and savings attributed to subsidy removal from May 2023 to date.<\/p>\n
The government must publish the figures. The government must identify the beneficiaries. The government must identify the projects. The government must show Nigerians what their sacrifices have produced.<\/p>\n
It is unacceptable for the government to tell Nigerians that trillions of naira have been saved while millions of citizens continue to face unbearable transportation costs, soaring food prices, rising production costs, unemployment and declining purchasing power.<\/p>\n
HURIWA rejects the notion that Nigerians must simply endure perpetual hardship because subsidy removal has increased government revenue.<\/p>\n
Revenue increases mean little to the ordinary Nigerian if they do not translate into better living conditions, affordable transportation, quality education, functional healthcare, employment opportunities, and improved security.<\/p>\n
Fuel pricing remains at the heart of Nigeria’s economic survival. Every increase in petrol prices affects transportation, food distribution, agriculture, manufacturing, small businesses, and virtually every aspect of daily life.<\/p>\n
HURIWA therefore considers it unacceptable that Nigeria, one of the world’s major crude oil-producing countries, continues to subject its citizens to some of the highest petrol prices on the continent while the nation struggles with inadequate refining capacity.<\/p>\n
We insist that the answer to subsidy fraud is not to punish the entire population. The government should deploy transparent pricing mechanisms, strict verification, technology, independent auditing, and prosecution of anyone who defrauds the public.<\/p>\n
HURIWA also rejects the argument that subsidy removal has automatically eliminated corruption. If anything, the controversy surrounding the management of the alleged savings reinforces the need for stronger public accountability.<\/p>\n
We consequently call on the EFCC and the National Assembly to independently investigate the conflicting figures surrounding subsidy savings and make their findings public.<\/p>\n
We further call on the federal government to open the relevant financial records to Nigerians and explain, line by line, how the resources generated from subsidy removal have been managed.<\/p>\n
The Nigerian people have already made enormous sacrifices in the name of economic reform. They must not now become victims of a system in which the government demands sacrifice from citizens but provides inadequate answers about public funds.<\/p>\n
HURIWA believes Nigeria can design a fuel subsidy regime that protects vulnerable citizens without creating another avenue for corruption.<\/p>\n
The choice should not be between subsidy and corruption. Nigeria can have affordable fuel, transparent subsidy administration, and strict accountability at the same time.<\/p>\n
What Nigerians can not continue to accept is a situation where they suffer the consequences of subsidy removal while trillions of naira allegedly generated from that policy remain the subject of conflicting accounts.<\/p>\n
HURIWA, therefore, demands urgent action, full disclosure, and an independent audit.<\/p>\n
The federal government must account to the Nigerian people.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By George Mgbelele The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) unequivocally supports the restoration of a transparently administered fuel subsidy as a temporary social protection measure, especially at a time millions of Nigerians are struggling under the crushing weight of rising fuel prices and the escalating cost of living. HURIWA maintains that fuel subsidy, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11875,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17066","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17066","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17066"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17066\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17067,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17066\/revisions\/17067"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11875"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17066"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17066"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17066"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}