By Abdulwahab Abdulah

Deputy Speaker of the Ekiti State House of Assembly, arrister Tunji Orisalade has challenged President Goodluck Jonathan to first put the palliative measures his administration promised in place for him to implement the removal of the fuel subsidy.

Speaking to Saturday Vanguard, Orisalade said to justify the government’s position and also win the confidence of Nigerians, President Jonathan must as a matter of urgency put on hold the removal of the subsidy to open up discussions on removal of fuel subsidy.

Calling on President Jonathan to stay action the subsidy, he said, : “For now the most reasonable and logical option is to reverse the removal of the subsidy as most Nigerians are opposed to same. A father really in love with his children would not ask them to remove their torn cloths and walk the streets naked before making arrangements to buy cloths for them.”

The lawmaker who raised many questions deserving answers from the present administration argued that Nigerians need to be properly educated on the on-going developments at both the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency , PPPRA, and the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC in the last ten years.

He said that facts and figures relating to the subsidy issue with copious documentary evidence need be brought to the public arena to convince Nigerians why the subsidy must go.

He said, “Nigerians are interested to know why an amount much higher than that appropriated in the budget was paid out without the requisite authority. Nigerians are equally interested in knowing why payments are made on falsified bills of lading when it apparently glaring that they are fraudulent with some loading delivering petroleum products within four days as opposed to the average four weeks.”

He argued that the government suppose to inform Nigerians who are to bear the pain of subsidy on who made the payments, how much and to whom and why do the NNPC have to go through agents to buy petroleum products when there is no legal impediments disallowing it from the supplying countries.

He further raised questions on “why was the observations on April 2, 2011 made by Chris Finlayson, Managing Director of Shell Petroleum Development Corporation of Nigeria, SPDC to the effect that a scandal is brewing within NNPC over payments made to international fuel marketers ignored by Jonathan administration?

“Again, why is the observation made by one of the largest supplier of diesel in Nigeria which corroborated Finlayson’s report to the effect that over $300 million has been overpaid by NNPC for fuel imports and that many leading international traders are involved being ignored by Jonathan administration?”

He called on the administration to let the palliatives be put in place first before opening up discussions on removal of fuel subsidy.