Peter Obi Says Oil Subsidy An Organised Crime, After Buhari Budget’s N3.6 trillion For Payment

The presidential candidate of Labour Party, Peter Obi, has described subsidy as an organised crime, reiterating his view against subsidy payment which has continued to gulp Nigeria’s revenue.

His statement comes weeks after President Muhammadu Buhari submitted Nigeria’s 2023 budget to the National Assembly, informing the lawmakers that subsidy payment will cost N3.6 trillion next year. 

This is more than the N1.92 trillion oil revenue and N2.13 trillion non-oil revenue projected for next year, a bit below when both revenues are combined. 

In recent times, Obi has spoken against subsidy, and on Monday, he, again, criticised it during the interactive session involving the presidential candidates, which was organised by Arewa Joint Committee in Kaduna. 

“Our past is gone. We are going to face the future. Fighting corruption is easy when one is not stealing. Our money is being stolen, subsidy is an organised crime.” He said at the conference. 

In September, Obi had opined that, “Petrol subsidy is an organised crime. I have said it that 60 per cent of the subsidy is corruption. That will be dealt with decisively. Secondly, we will aggressively start to ensure the promotion of local refining that is private sector driven and supply them crude oil in Naira to refine for domestic consumption. 

“With the removal of subsidy, we will effectively reduce corruption to a minimal level, reduce the bloated cost of governance and above all, support and incentivize export to stabilize the currency exchange rate.” 

Meanwhile, during the interactive session in Kaduna, while talking about the assets in the Northern states, Obi said, “The greatest asset of Nigeria is vast uncultivated land in the north but these lands have been taken by bandits. 

The Labour Party candidate vowed to “bring Nigeria back to life. All banks will be shareholders in the Bank Of Agriculture where our farmers can directly assess loans.” 

He stated further that, “I want to give Nigerians hope. I and my running mate will be in charge. They will not find us wanting. We have physical strength. I will dialogue with every agitator because it will make us a better and united Nigeria.”