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Tinubu woos Nigerians, vows to end subsidy if elected

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Tinubu says manifesto circulating online an incomplete document

The All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Candidate, Bola Tinubu, has vowed to end the controversial petrol subsidy payment.

On Friday, he made the promise while unveiling an 80-page manifesto titled “Renewed hope: Action Plan for a Better Nigeria” in Abuja.

In 2012, Tinubu was one of the well-known critics of the Jonathan administration’s attempt to remove fuel subsidy.

In the manifesto, aside from phasing out fuel subsidy, Tinubu promised to accelerate full implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act and implement additional favourable policies to attract investment in deepwater assets within six months.

He said: “I will ensure the stability of petroleum product supply by fully deregulating the downstream sector and ensuring that local refinery capacity will meet domestic consumption needs.

“We shall phase out the fuel subsidy yet maintain the underlying social contract between government and the people. We do this by dedicating the money that would have been used on the subsidy to fund targeted infrastructural, agricultural and social welfare programmes ranging from road construction to boreholes, public transportation subsidies, and education and healthcare funding programmes.

“In this way, the funds are more directly and better utilised to address urgent social and economic needs. Our planned approach will not only mitigate the price effects of deregulation but will also result in the significant expansion of public infrastructure and improvement of public well-being.

Read also:‘The whole of America deserves to be in prison if loan is a crime,’ Tinubu defends Buhari on foreign loans

“Subsidy removal and deregulation are, however, only part of the solution. To further increase our refining capacity, we shall focus on the rehabilitation of the nation’s refineries and shall consider, as a model, the joint venture partnership arrangements implemented by other leading oil-producing states and global petrochemical firms.”

Forex crisis

On forex crisis hindering the economy, the document stated that: “The recent dip in our exchange rate is primarily due to global supply and production shortfalls caused by global factors well beyond the scope of our control.

“Our diminished oil production levels and the modest capacity of our manufacturing sector to expand production both compound the pressure on the naira.

“Further compounding our difficulty is the fact that we are tied to an ineffective regime of multiple, somewhat arbitrary, exchange rates. This situation gives rise to financial dislocation, currency speculation and arbitrage.

“These practices divert much-needed funds away from productive endeavours that could employ hundreds of thousands of people and create products that improve average living conditions.

“To ensure that exchange rate policy harmonises with our goals of optimal growth and job creation driven by industrial, agricultural and infrastructural expansion, we will work with the Central Bank and the financial sector to carefully review and better optimise the exchange rate regime. Our economic policies shall be guided by our desire for a stronger, more stable Naira founded upon a vibrant and productive real economy.”

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