The Nigeria Employers Consultative Association (NECA) says it supports President Bola Tinubu’s removal of fuel subsidy.

NECA director-general Adewale-Smatt Oyerinde stated this in a statement in Lagos on Tuesday.

Mr Oyerinde, however, urged Mr Tinubu’s government to urgently fix the nation’s four refineries in the wake of the fuel subsidy removal, which has triggered an unprecedented price hike in petrol and transportation fares.

The NECA chief urged Mr Tinubu to make future-oriented policies in tackling the current petrol crisis in the country, saying most interventions capable of being undertaken in the face of the current crisis would take a medium or long-term period to materialise.

“So it is better to look into the future while planning. We need programmes and policies that bring permanent or long-term solutions,” Mr Oyerinde explained. 

He also mentioned that steps should be taken to stimulate manufacturing and industrial production to develop local economies, reaffirming NECA’s “call for the total removal of fuel subsidy” because “it will promote enterprise sustainability, growth, and competitiveness.”

“Subsidy removal will trigger huge financial revenue which can be channelled into infrastructure development, among others,” the NECA chief stressed.

Mr Oyerinde urged the government to create massive education and awareness on the essence and benefits of petrol subsidy removal.

According to him, Nigerians need to know that the policy is in the interest of their well-being and the economy.

(NAN)