Speaking at the end-of-year meeting of the Bayelsa Elders Council in Yenagoa, the Governor of Bayelsa State, Douye Diri, has advised the Federal Government to jettison move to end the subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit (petrol).
According to Diri, the planned removal of subsidy was not the best solution to the economic hardship facing the citizens. He therefore implored the Federal Government to review the current uniform subsidy deductions from the Federation Account.
“They should rather re-calibrate the subsidy deductions based on volume of petroleum products consumed by each state,” he said.
The governor, who was represented by his Deputy, Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, reiterated his administration’s commitment towards improving the infrastructural base of the state.
READ ALSO: Togo, Benin, Niger Didn’t Pay for Nigeria’s Power Supply – NERC
He said the building of basic infrastructure such as roads to open up the state for socio-economic development was dear to the government, adding that work was being intensified on the Sagbama-Ekeremor and Yenagoa-Oporoma road projects in the state.
He said the construction work on Phase II of the New Yenagoa Gateway Drive and the Outer Ring Road to connect Igbogene to AIT were progressing at a good pace.
Diri informed the Bayelsa elders that, all things being equal, appreciable milestones of the two projects would be inaugurated and put to use by February next year.
In his remarks, the acting Chairman of the Bayelsa Elders Council, Thompson Okorotie, lauded Diri’s development stride and his efforts at ensuring peace in the state.
Still on the issue of subsidy removal, an Umuahia filling station operator, Mr. Sampson Nwokorie, has expressed support for the Federal Government’s planned removal of petrol subsidy.
Nwokorie, who called on Nigerians to accept subsidy removal, said, “As an insider, I know what the country is losing by subsidising the price of petrol.”
“With the deregulation, there will be initial hardship, but with time, we will surely overcome as we did in the telecommunication sector,” he told journalists after receiving an award from the Alumni Association of Abia State University.”
Nwokorie noted that before the deregulation of the telecommunication sector, it was difficult for people to communicate easily, but today, it is almost a thing of the past as almost everybody now has access to the network of their choice.
