The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative has stated that the high PMS consumption data being given by some government entities were false and that research to ascertain Nigeria’s actual fuel consumption had been launched.
The Punch reported that the Executive Secretary of NEITI, Ogbonnaya Orji, said this on Tuesday in Abuja while speaking to the press on the sidelines of the Stakeholders Validation Workshop on the 2022 Annual Progress Report for Nigeria’s Extractive Industries.
“I have advocated for the elimination of subsidies for a very long time. And this administration has made that audacious move from the beginning. There should be no turning around.”
Orji claimed that NEITI was aware that the removal of subsidies would result in a number of additional problems, noting that “one of those issues that we know will happen is the actual consumption figure (of petrol).”
He declared, “We think the numbers being offered up as daily consumption of PMS in Nigeria are not really accurate. The NEITI is funding a study on real PMS consumption in Nigeria since we believe we need to have an empirical figure.
“We have every reason to think that the number may be lower than what is anticipated, and the elimination of subsidies has also eliminated all incentives for raising this number in a way that defies logic and empirical support.”
However, the head of NEIT suggested that some measures be taken to mitigate the immediate consequences that subsidy removal had on the extremely defenseless less privileged poor, who were dispersed across the working and non-working classes.
Orji stated they what is needed now is the establishment of a strong plan to demonstrate to Nigerians the effects of subsidy withdrawal in terms of the development of roads, infrastructure, access to health care, education, etc.
“The international organization mandates that all parties involved in the NEITI process, including those not on the MSG, be given the opportunity to weigh in on the effects of the initiative’s implementation, offer feedback, and have their opinions represented in the annual progress report.
Thus, in accordance with the criteria of the global NEITI, “this program has been designed to have your views reflected in the 2022 Annual Progress Report of the Nigerian Extractive Industries,” he said.
