Less than 24 hours after the Federal Government announced a new price of N145 per litre for petrol, which signaled the end to the subsidy regime, queues have disappeared from filling stations in some parts of the country. This is even as more reactions trailed the new price regime with some Nigerians hailing the move, while others condemned the government action.

Across the country, the long queues that have been on for more than two months have disappeared. In Lagos and its environs, most filling stations are now dispensing to the public, lending credence to the argument that some of them were hoarding the product.

Most of the stations are however selling above the N145 cap. One of the stations on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Amoo Oil sold at N150 per litre. However, in some other states, the price still hovers between N250 and N300 per litre. In Lokoja, the Kogi State capital, most of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, mega stations that have not been selling in past few weeks opened for business yesterday, with their pump price adjusted to N145. Most independent marketers are selling at between N250 and N200, while motorists are already complaining that some of the stations are under dispensing, despite selling far above the new price. Centre for Social Justice, Equity and Transparency, CESJET, applauded the president’s resolve to remove subsidy, describing it as a gift to Nigerians. CESJET’s Executive Secretary, Comrade Ikpa Isaac, in a statement in Abuja yesterday, said the removal of the subsidy will end the incessant fuel crises, which have put the nation and innocent citizens at the mercy of a certain cabal.

He said: “Different revelations have emerged of massive fraud in the fuel subsidy process; trillions of naira is alleged to have been fraudulently stolen from the government purse in the name of fuel subsidy payments. “It is heart wrenching to discover that the country is being bled on the side, despite its already anemic financial status.” Ikpa said the removal of subsidy will not only break the cabal, but also encourage those who have had approved refining licenses several years ago to go ahead to build their refineries. Chairman, Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, University of Ibadan chapter, Dr Deji Omole, called on Nigerians to resist the increment. Omole, while speaking with journalists in Ibadan yesterday, described the present government as that of propaganda and impunity. While flaying the news of the increment as an insult to the sensibilities of Nigerians, Omole said all that has to be celebrated under the Buhari government is one year of poverty through increment in electricity tariff and many other anti-poor policies.

He insisted that the government thrives on propaganda, wondering why the All Progressives Congress, APC, which campaigned that there was no subsidy under the Goodluck Jonathan administration, is now talking about subsidy. The ASUU boss noted that it is sad that since 2009, no single kobo has been added to the ‘poverty wage’ being paid to workers, stating that the cost of living within the same period has quadrupled. Omole called for mass resistance to what he called the ‘callous’ policy. Legal icon and founder, Afe Babalola University, Aare Afe Babalola, in his reaction described the increment as a sad story. He said it was because the increment would cause more hardship for many Nigerians, majority of who live below the poverty line of two dollar a day. Aare Babalola made the observation in an exclusive interview with National Mirror in Ado-Ekiti. He said he foresaw the increment coming because it was just impossible to sustain fuel importation on subsidy. He however added that it was unfortunate and painful, the adverse effect of the increment on ordinary Nigerians.

“I never believe in subsidising imported fuel and since I am not in government and also not among the policy makers, there is little or nothing I can do in that regard,” he said. He however urged Nigerians to cooperate with and support the current government in every area and with every mean possible to be able to move the country forward. House of Representatives Majority Leader, Femi Gbajabiamila, said the increase was necessary but untimely. Gbajabiamila, who spoke to newsmen in Abuja, however, insisted that in the light of the increase, government must accede to the demand by labour to pay a new minimum wage of N56,000.

The lawmaker said he has always opposed the removal of subsidy, but now, as a key leader of the ruling APC, he was in a dilemma. He pointed out that the only justification for any such increase now would be the wage increase, as there was the need for a review of the minimum wage to cushion the effects of the deregulation. Meanwhile, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr Ibe Kachikwu, said the new pump price of N145 would help to sustain supply and reduce the suffering to get the product. Kachikwu told newsmen in Abuja yesterday that NNPC did not have the resources to supply the product to meet the demands of the nation.

“I want to explain the situation with the recent price of the PMS and I know that a lot of you that watched the movement of the price from N86 to N145 will understand more. “The reality is that we are unable to bring the product with the prices we sold before, that is why we see the systemic queues all over the country for a very long time. “I will urge you to trust that we are trying to do what is right and there is no better time to do this other than now under the leadership of President Buhari,” he said He added that non-availability of foreign exchange and inability to open letter of credit forced marketers to stop products importation. This, he said, imposed 90 per cent supply on NNPC since October 2015 against its supply strength of 48 per cent.

This development, Kachikwu said, contributed to the continuous queue witnessed in the country. He said with the NN86.50 pump price of PMS, Federal Government would have been paying subsidy of N13.7 per litre, which he added, translated to N16.4bn monthly. The minister said government could not go on with such funding and had completely removed subsidy and working with the price modulation to get things done right. He added that the renewed pipeline vandalism in the Niger Delta had drastically reduced national crude oil production to 1.4 million barrels per day as at yesterday.

This, he added, was against 2.2 million barrels per day as proposed in the 2016 budget. “This will further reduce income to the federation account and also affect crude volume for PMS conversion and Federal Government’s foreign earning. “To continue massive importation of PMS, it is clear that unless immediate action is taken to liberalise the petroleum supply and distribution, the queues will persist,” he said. The minister said diversion would worsen and the current price spiral out of control. Kachikwu further said if pump price was not increased, more states would have no money to pay salaries as monies accrued to the federation account would not be able to solve their needs. He assured that the current policy would help to sustain and create jobs instead of job loss that was witnessed in the system. The minister said the situation would also put to an end various sharp practices such as hoarding, smuggling, and diversion and ensure market stability.

“It will potentially create additional 200,000 jobs through new investments and prevent potential loss of nearly 400,000 jobs in existing investments. “It will provide government more revenue to address social and infrastructural needs of the country,” he added He urged Nigerians to trust government’s effort to ensure growth and development in the oil sector.