Musiliu Obanikoro, the former Minister of State for Defence, suggested that the Federal Government might be compensating for the growing Dollar-Naira gap in determining the ultimate price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), commonly known as petrol.
Obanikoro stated this in an interview with Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Wednesday.
Recall that President Bola Tinubu, in his inaugural speech, declared an end to the petrol subsidy era, with the essential commodity jumping from around N184 to over N600, depending on the part of the country.
The Tinubu administration also collapsed the foreign exchange rate, with the naira plunging to an all-time low from about $1/N700 last May to over $1/1500 at the moment.
The World Bank and the Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Pinnacle Oil and Gas Limited, Robert Dickerman, claimed that the Federal Government is still paying subsidy for the product.
But, human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, challenged the Federal Government to “without any further delay, confirm or deny the serious allegation and end the opacity surrounding the importation of fuel from foreign countries.”
Speaking on the development, Obanikoro said, “You talk about subsidy, Mr. Falana knows the price of crude in dollars and if our money, the naira has lost so much value, and crude is dollarised.
“Evidently, there must be a cushion somewhere and to what extent is that cushion being done, I can’t speak to that; it’s somebody who is representing the government that can address that.
“But my common sense tells me that there is a gap and because of the pain in the country, the government cannot allow that lacuna to be left unfilled.”
The former lawmaker who represented Lagos Central Senatorial District from 2003 to 2007 said, “Hence the government may chip in some amount of money to fill in that gap… I do believe that that needs to be communicated, no doubt about that.
“I do believe that that needs to be communicated, no doubt about that. That is why it is important to take the people along step by step,”
he added.
