Debates About Subsidy Removal Belated, Nigerians Need To Start Seeing Its Benefits — PENGASSAN
The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) says the country should move beyond debates about fuel subsidy removal, urging the government to ensure that the benefits of the move translate into improvements in the lives of Nigerians.
PENGASSAN President Bosun Olabiyi-Agoro said this when he appeared on a Television programme.
“The argument over whether to remove the subsidy or not is now belated. It has been done, but we need to start seeing the benefits of that removal in the lives of everyday Nigerians,” Olabiyi-Agoro said on Friday.
“The hardship persists, but the argument over how to execute the subsidy removal, or whether it should have been removed at all, has been debated for a long time,” he said.
President Bola Tinubu announced the removal of the fuel subsidy upon assumption of office in May 2023. Since that move, the cost of petrol has moved from around ₦200 per litre to about ₦1,300 for the same quantity of the essential commodity.
Economists have also attributed the high cost of living to the action. More than three years after the announcement, opposition candidates and critics have questioned the Federal Government’s action, arguing that Nigerians are facing severe hardship over the matter.
Some presidential candidates, notably Atiku Abubakar of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), have promised to reverse the policy, although the Federal Government insists there is no going back on the removal of fuel subsidy.
The PENGASSAN boss admitted that the removal of subsidy was “painful” and that the move “became extremely hard on Nigerians and workers” who are still battling hardship three years after the announcement.
Olabiyi-Agoro said that despite Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growing by 4.43 per cent in Q2 2026, the country must move beyond “traction in the macroeconomic indicators affecting Nigeria”.
As far as he is concerned, these metrics should “translate into food or better living conditions for the average Nigerian.”
“What we are advocating for right now is to see those macro policies translate into tangible benefits for the common man—not just figures on paper. While those figures are positive—GDP is improving, the balance of trade is better, and foreign exchange reserves are growing—we want to see actual positive changes in the lives of ordinary Nigerians,” the PENGASSAN chief said on the breakfast show.
He attributed improvements in the supply of petroleum products to the removal of the subsidy.
“From the moment there was no budget allocated for the subsidy up until now, we believe we are buying products at market prices without government subsidies. So, we have moved past that side of the debate,” Olabiyi-Agoro said.
