Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, (SAN) has urged the Federal Government to urgently address the suffering of Nigerians as a result of the fuel subsidy removal.
Falana made the call while featuring on Channels TV’s Politics Today programme on Friday night.
He noted that the fuel subsidy regime is a result of the irresponsibility of the government and its failed promises to reform the oil sector.
“The government will have to move speedily to address the suffering of the people, undeserved pains inflicted on the people, because of the irresponsibility of the Nigerian ruling class,” he said.
The human rights lawyer noted that the immediate past president, Muhammadu Buhari did not keep to the promise he made in 2015 to fix all the refineries when he gets to power.
The human rights activist, therefore, called on the Federal Government to act fast to alleviate the citizens’ sufferings.
The PUNCH reports that President Bola Tinubu, in his inaugural speech on May 29, declared that “fuel subsidy is gone”, a move that has generated mixed reactions and also led to an increase in the price of petrol across the country.
According to Falana, what is important in the implementation of government policies is to look at the impact it has on the people.
“It’s clear that those who initially applauded the removal of fuel subsidy are beginning to appreciate the enormity of the crisis that it has caused for the country. They are now mounting pressure on the government to fast-track the process of cushioning the effects of the removal,” he said.
He also urged the FG to investigate the fuel subsidy policy as implemented for years.
“No doubt there was a lot of fraud that characterized the management of fuel subsidy and the government will have to investigate that,” he said.
