Senator Andrew Uchendu and Hon. Dachung Bagos, two former federal lawmakers have criticized the Federal Government’s reduction of electricity subsidy.
They argued that the timing was wrong.
Nigerian energy Regulatory Commission (NERC) on Wednesday, had announced an increase in the price of energy for Band A users. It was clarified that these individuals had daily access to 20 hours of electricity.
However, the former legislators that appeared on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Thursday’s episode said Nigerians’ suffering will worsen as a result of the withdrawal of the fuel subsidy and the timing of the electricity hike.
Senator Uchendu, who represented Rivers East in the National Assembly, said. “I have always held this view that any right decision taken at the wrong time will ultimately be wrong,”
“Nigerians have had a fairly bad deal in recent times. It was important that fuel subsidy be removed, and it was removed. Some of us did argue that possibly adequate preparations were not made in anticipation of the obvious implications of subsidy removal.
“And so that very policy decision is biting hard on every Nigerian. To now come back six months down the line to talk about another subsidy removal whether Band A, Band B, or any Band will ordinarily irritate Nigerians.
“It is coming at the wrong time. We would have allowed the negative effect of the fuel subsidy removal to be properly controlled before introducing any other subsidy.”
Bago, the ex-lawmaker, who represented Jos South and East Federal Constituency, also shared similar sentiments with Senator Uchendu, questioned the timing of the electricity tariff hike. He believes there is a lack of planning in the decision.
“I quite agree with the distinguished Senator. Not just that the time is wrong but even the planning is wrong. Why we supported the fuel subsidy removal is because the monies for fuel subsidy was only enriching a few,” Bagos said.
“And inasmuch as there is a removal, there was no proper planning to cushion the effects [of subsidy removal] on Nigerians. Now you are having the electricity subsidy removed. What are those plans that the Federal Government has put in place to cushion the effect on Nigerians?”
The former member of the House of Representatives added that subsidies are not always a negative thing, pointing out that governments all throughout the world provide subsidies for the benefit of their citizens.
“And one thing we need to understand is, there is no government in the world that does not pay subsidy on something to cushion effects on its citizenry.
“The US or UK we are copying, all of them have subsidies on certain sectors of the economy that will cushion effects on their own citizens,” he said.
