Subsidy Removal: Provide Palliatives Like Kwara And Edo, Falana Urges LGs, State Govts

Local and state governments must take urgent measures to alleviate the effects of fuel subsidy removal on their constituents, Femi Falana, SAN, said Friday during an appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today.

Following President Bola Tinubu’s inaugural speech on May 29 in which he declared that “fuel subsidy is gone”, fuel costs skyrocketed across the country, leading to calls for palliatives to mitigate the effects of the policy.

President Bola Tinubu on July 7 directed the National Economic Council (NEC) led by Vice President Kashim Shettima to begin the process of working on interventions to mitigate the impact of subsidy removal on the Nigerians.

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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.”