Hon. Dan Akpan represents Etinan/ Nait? Ibom/Nsit Ubium? Federal Constituency of? Akwa Ibom State. In this interview with journalists in Abuja, including RUTH CHOJI, he slams those against fuel subsidy removal, saying they lack economical ideology. Sharing perspectives on other topical issues, he urges Nigerians to give the government a chance. Excerpts:
The president was reported to have said the House of Representatives was on its own on the decision it took on fuel subsidy; this is your constituency, what is your response?
In the first place I want to tell you that the president has denied that he ever said anything like that. So there is nothing there to comment on.
But are you in support of the removal of the subsidy in the first place?
I am.
Despite the hardship it brought on Nigerians?
There is no suffering. We need to understand what suffering is all about and what the government is trying to do. We are used to behaving somehow, may be because of the way our former leaders treated us in the past. I want to say that, whosoever introduced fuel subsidy should have fixed a time limit or when it is supposed to lapse. He shouldn’t have given a blanket order. If they were using fuel subsidy for a purpose, like to uplift the standard of living as at that time, in my opinion, I feel they should have said that it was going to last for ten years or less.
So I support the removal because other sectors of the economy is suffering. Education, transportation, agriculture and other sectors have been neglected for years because of this subsidy. We don’t offer subsidy to neighboring countries; it was meant to mitigate the suffering of Nigerians during a certain period, but they have been trying to remove the subsidy without success. The question should be, ‘why does government want to remove the subsidy.’ The answer must be because they see that it is not lucrative and has not in any way helped the economy. That is why every government that comes in wants to remove subsidy. I have listened to so many people talk and all they say is that it is political ideology. I have not seen anybody talk about economic ideology. In economy, when your demand is high and the supply is low, you will have to increase your price …
But some prominent Nigerians have claimed that, there is no subsidy to start with, would you say this is true?
People like who? All the people talking are the ones that tried to fix it but couldn’t and so are using sentiments to poison the minds of Nigerians.
The president assured Nigerians that the subsidy would not be removed till April , it was announced on first of January, and the 2011 budget will terminate in March. Is the budget not covering subsidy?
The subsidy is done month by month; it is not a yearly thing. Nigerians should find out why government decided to do it in January not the April he has said earlier. Labor should sit down with the president and ask him why he decided to remove the subsidy earlier. The president must have seen or heard something to him take that kind of action. There is a lot of corruption in the oil industry and government is trying to stop it by taking the action it took. Some people are suggesting that government should kill the cabal. But if they kill them, people in the north will say you have killed my brothers. Those in the south will say the same thing and there will still be talks.
But Nigerians voted the president out of trust…
If you trust that the president can deliver, why can’t you trust him now to remove the subsidy and channel the funds to other viable sectors? He has given all the assurances he needs to give as a president. In governance, you don’t expose everything to the public; the ministers are there to explain to the people. The problem of Nigerians is that they are very hypertensive, so they tend to over react over every situation. As at now, there is no private refinery that can be opened in this country.
Why?
If I have a license to open a refinery now, I won’t because of the high cost of refining and the way the price is regulated. But if the sector is deregulated and the PPRC looks at it and gives it a good price, where the investor will benefit; if they allow deregulation, people will come in? and open factories. I learnt that twenty people were given licenses to open factories but they have since refused to build it. If each of them open refineries each will employ nothing less than a thousand people in each factory, each staff in Nigeria has nothing less than four dependent on him or her. That is how economy is touching the lives of other people. Even organised labour that that is spear heading the civil disobedence have now agreed that the subsidy be removed, they are only arguing about the timing.
Are the palliatives only going to be on transportation?
No, they are boosting all the sectors. What the government needs is time to implement the measures. If you open a new company, you need at least three years to break even before you start talking about profit. Government has just been in for six months, and because they brought in this policy, people are screaming that they have not delivered.
We have to give them time and if you are going to get result, you have to go through some changes. There is no change that can come without. Let?? me give you an example, Margret Thatcher when she was prime minister was asked to join European monetary firm, she refused. The labour, civil society groups and others all tried to force her to join; that if she doesn’t, the country will fall apart, she refused and stood her ground. Today, we all know how strong the pounds is, now the euro is weak and the pounds is strong.
Their economy is stronger than all of them because of that single decision. Some are saying that the president did not put the subsidy in the campaign. If he had, no one would have voted them, but you cannot put all your plans in a manifest, forgetting that there are thing you won’t see until you get to the place.
But Nigerians were expecting the president to deal with issues one at a time; the nation is battling with security challenges amongst others.
If you are a leader; you should be able to face challenges.? You don’t expect him to take one and leave the rest, strong leaders handle situations as they come. So, he is doing everything humanly possible to make sure that? he effectively tackles the security situation. He has declared a state emergency in some local governments where the violence is worse.
What should be the expectations of Nigerians from the 2012 budget?
You are a Nigerian too, what do you expect from the budget? Our problem is over head cost. Recurrent expenditure is our problem. As of now, the budget shows that 72% is going to be for recurrent expenditure and only 28% will be for capital project. The ministers have been explaining that, it is because of the number of people that have increased in the civil service, promotion of civil servant and provision of jobs for new people.
To me, if the personal cost is going up, I will not bother, you know why? Because it means more employment, but when over- head is more on travelling, maintenance and other things is high, I will be worried. There are a lot of wastage in our system like the subsidy thing and? I think that is what government is ready to cope.