Peter Obi: We must move Nigeria beyond oil, end petrol subsidy

Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), says the country must look for ways to run beyond oil.

Obi disclosed this on Thursday on his verified Twitter page, warning that Nigeria must put an end to fuel subsidy.

“From where I stand, I dare to proclaim that Nigeria’s democracy must survive. The new alliance that we seek is between Nigerian youths, the Labour Party, which represent Nigerian workers, and like minds,” he tweeted.

“Going forward, we must look for ways to move Nigeria beyond oil. We must end this criminality called ‘oil subsidy’.

“Nigeria today is vastly polarised and wrecked by divisions that run deep along religious, ethnic and regional lines.‘

“There is a staggering level of corruption. Our universities have remained closed for over five months. While our healthcare system remains comatose, power generation and distribution are also at an all-time low.

“After we win the 2023 elections, we intend to use the instruments of job creation and regenerative investments to drastically reduce the high incidence of insecurity and poverty while moving the economy from the consumptive to the productive mode.”

This year, the federal government projected to spend N4 trillion on petrol subsidy.

In the first half of 2022, TheCable reported that petroleum subsidy claims surpassed oil receipts from Nigerian National Petroleum Company(NNPC) Limited by N210 billion.