Why subsidy removal is not enough — Ezekwesili

Former Minister of Education, Dr. Oby Ezekwesili, has criticized President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s removal of fuel subsidy, asserting that it is insufficient without comprehensive reforms in the petroleum sector.
During an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today, Ezekwesili drew attention to the inadequacy of simply adjusting fuel prices without addressing the underlying governance issues in the sector.

“So the thing about economic policy choices is that it’s like a pregnancy. No matter how you try to cover it, it will show up,” Ezekwesili remarked.

She explained that while the price of petroleum products has been changed many times, it has not led to sustained benefits.

“One of the things that I have been public about is that we have seen over time that merely changing the price of petroleum products does not give us a sustained benefit of the sector,” she said.

Ezekwesili emphasized the need for complete deregulation of the petroleum sector, pointing out that the sector’s current governance structure is flawed.

“Just saying we’re removing subsidy was not going to be sufficient. The governance architecture of that sector is still intact with all of its challenges,” she stated.

She also criticized the discretionary powers held by the political class in the sector, which she believes create distortions.

“They want to be the ones making the decisions concerning the sector, and what we know about discretionary power in a sector that can be market-driven is that it will create distortions, so I’m not surprised,” Ezekwesili added.

The former minister also took a swipe at the political class, describing them as “bandits” for their continued control over the sector.