INFORMATION minister Alhaji Lai Mohammed has revealed that Nigeria is broke and it is a realisation of this fact that forced the federal government to revoke the fuel subsidy and increase the price of petrol to N145 (49p) a litre from N86.50.
Speaking yesterday after a Federal Executive Council meeting in Abuja, Alhaji Mohammed said the government had no choice but to revoke the subsidy in view of the state of its current finances. He added that the current problem is not about subsidy removal but a result of dwindling income of the government.
Alhaji Mohammed said: “The current problem is not really about subsidy removal. It is that Nigeria is broke. Pure and simple.
“It is like somebody who has been earning N100,000 a month and he is faced with a situation where his employer says henceforth you will be earning N10,000 a month. He would need to make some very painful decisions and some very painful adjustments and that is the situation with Nigeria today."
According to Alhaji Mohammed, a few months ago, Nigeria was earning as much as $100 for every barrel of crude but that is no longer the case. He added that the government appreciates what the people are going through but Nigerians should also know that the government has the responsibility at times to take very difficult decisions, so it is not always about popularity.
In addition, Alhaji Mohammed and labour minister Chris Ngige, said negotiations with the trade unions, who vowed to call a strike to oppose the subsidy removal would continue. They also denied allegations that the government was encouraging factionalism within the Nigeria Labour Congress to weaken it.
Alhaji Mohammed said the federal government has agreed to meet some of the demands of labour which include the reconstitution of Petroleum Products Pricing and Regulatory Agency board over the next two weeks. He added that a 15-man committee has also been set up to look at the demands of labour.
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