The candidate of the Labour Party in the February 25 presidential elections, Peter Obi, has reacted to the recent removal of Petroleum Subsidy by the Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration.
Obi in a series of tweets posted on his verified Twitter page on Tuesday, said his approach to the subsidy removal would have included palliative measures to cushion the harsh economic effects that the removal of the subsidy regime would bring.
The LP candidate said he would have adopted the “tooth pain” removal analogy to provide succour to Nigerians as prices of petroleum products rise.
He reiterated his support for the removal of the subsidy regime adding that the statistical analysis he conducted shows that Nigeria is not consuming the amount of fuel it subsidizes.
Obi said, “I’ve actually been in support of the removal of subsidies right from the President Goodluck Jonathan era, when I was a member of the Economic Management team.
“If you have followed me very well right from the time I was a member of Jonathan’s economic management team, I consistently maintained that subsidy should be removed because I see it as organized crime.
“People were just stealing the resources of the country and I showed it empirically in my statistical analysis that we were not consuming the amount of fuel they claimed we consumed.
“I also gave them the “tooth pain” removal analogy that if you approach a dentist to remove a painful tooth, he will apply a local anesthetic to numb the area around the tooth so you do not feel pain. It’s not the same thing as pulling the tooth forcefully, the pain you feel will be different. For me, I will go with the approach of the dentist, while supporting the removal of the tooth because I wouldn’t want to go through the pain of a forceful removal.
Continuing further, the LP candidate drew attention to his campaign manifesto where he itemized how monies saved from the removal of the subsidy regime will be utilized.
“If you read my manifesto you will see clearly how I planned to remove subsidies. I will govern with the people and show them statistically and empirically what we are going to save, and what we are going to do using the savings to better the suffering masses.
“The problem in Nigeria is that often government tell the masses to suffer and sacrifice, for a better future; but in future things gets worse.
