Oil workers have warned President Muhammadu Buhari against taking hasty decisions in removing subsidy on petroleum products so as to prevent plunging the country into difficulty.
In a statement yesterday, June 2, the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), stated that removing subsidy at a time when the county still depends heavily on the importation of refined products will make prices of fuel unaffordable for ordinary Nigerians.
According to The Nation, it urged the administration to enhance the local refining of petroleum products to meet local demands before removing subsidy.
“Abrupt removal of fuel subsidy will create chaos that may ground the economy. PENGASSAN calls for well-coordinated measures with timeline to achieve self-sufficiency in local refining as a means of proffering acceptable steps to end fuel subsidy”, the union warned.
It described as ill-timed the advice that government should stop paying subsidies to oil marketers, cautioning that this will ground the economy of the country immediately.
The country recently recovered from the scarcity of diesel and other petroleum products which paralysed business activities nationwide.
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