A civic organisation in Nigeria identified as Connected Development (CODE) has knocked the Federal Government over the payment of petrol subsidy.
Goldennewsng gathered that the Chief Executive Officer of the organisation, Hamzat Lawal, has said the government is subsidising fuel for the rich and not the poor in Nigeria.
According to him, the government’s continuous payment of fuel subsidy is unacceptable. Lawal made the submission while featuring on a programme on Channels Television, Hard Copy.
The CODE boss was reacting to the move by move by the President Muhammadu Buhari administration to secure a World Bank loan worth $800 million to be distributed to about 50 million vulnerable Nigerians or 10 million households as part of its fuel subsidy palliatives measures.
Lawal urged the National Assembly to call for a public hearing concerning the loan, adding that it will help ensure that all the grey areas concerned are addressed.
He said, “We are subsidizing the rich, not the poor. The poor are actually bearing the brunt. And we spend over N50 billion daily in subsidizing the rich people who can afford it.
“Taking a loan is not bad, but what do we do with this loan? People are poor. We have poor people, and it is not their doing that they are poor. And as a government, as people, we must care for these poor people.
We have the Open Government Partnership that brings civil society, media, and government together, and it is being co-chaired by government and civil society.
It’s just for us to have this robust conversation and even for the government to agree, and then we set a timeline. This is not rocket science. This is public money given to you based on public trust.”