The fuel subsidy debate of the deaf, by Owei Lakemfa

The debate over fuel subsidy has resurfaced as a major national issue, more than three years after President Bola Tinubu declared that subsidy was gone. The controversy dates back 26 years to when President Olusegun Obasanjo established the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA). Labour, the main opponent of fuel price increases, argued that fuel cannot be priced as if Nigeria were not an oil-producing country, citing production economics and proximity to markets as reasons fuel should be cheaper than in non-oil-producing nations. Labour also contended that the Import Parity Pricing mechanism used by the Obasanjo administration depends on two variables beyond the country's control: international crude oil prices and endless devaluation.

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