Deregulation is a necessary change - Jonathan

President Goodluck Jonathan

Deregulation is a necessary change – Jonathan
Uche Aneke, Abuja

Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan says deregulation of the petroleum sector is a necessary change Nigeria must make if the government will have a significant impact in the lives of citizens.

President Jonathan was speaking to Prof. Jeffrey Sachs, Special Adviser to the United Nations’ Secretary General, at State House, Abuja.

He said the country’s 2010 capital budget was funded with borrowed money, the equivalent of which was used to fund the subsidy last year and pointed out that no meaningful infrastructural development was possible in such an environment.

Reallocation of subsidy proceeds

President Jonathan stated that his administration was committed to making significant and enduring interventions in the areas of power generation and supply, roads, railways, capacity building and health, adding that these sectors have already been opened to private sector participation.

The President expressed appreciation to Prof. Sachs for his concern for the development of Nigeria and Africa.

Prof. Sachs had commended President Jonathan for the conditional grants to local governments for the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals, describing it as one of the most innovative schemes of using national resources for local government development.

He described President Jonathan’s decision to withdraw the petroleum subsidy as a bold and correct policy, noting that funds so released would go a long way in ensuring rapid infrastructural development and improvement in the health sector.

Meanwhile, State Governors have agreed to support the Federal Government in the oil subsidy removal as it was necessary to move on as a country with the removal.

Addressing reporters at the end of the meeting between the State Governors and President Goodluck Jonathan in the State House Abuja, Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi said that the removal of the oil subsidy was a sacrifice that Nigerians must make to fully deregulate the oil sector to save money for developments and economic growth.

Mr Amaechi stated that there was no going back on the removal of the oil subsidy.

He acknowledged that the removal comes with some pains but that would only be temporal as government had taken steps to cushion the effects of the subsidy removal.

The Governor also appealed to the Nigerian Labour Congress to cancel their proposed nation wide strike and begin a discussion with the government on how to harness the benefits that would accrue as a result of the oil subsidy removal.

Ugo