Speaking in an interview session with News Central TV which SaharaReporters monitored on X, Obi questioned the government's decision to remove the subsidy without providing a clear plan for how the funds would be utilised.
Peter Obi, a former presidential candidate of the Labour Party, has asked the Nigerian government under the leadership of President Bola Tinubu to provide transparency on the funds generated from the removal of fuel subsidies.
The former Anambra Governor demanded that the government show exactly where the money is being applied, enabling citizens to track its usage.
Speaking in an interview session with News Central TV which SaharaReporters monitored on X, Obi questioned the government's decision to remove the subsidy without providing a clear plan for how the funds would be utilised.
Obi suggested that the government should specify how the removed subsidy funds would be applied, such as building classrooms to increase school enrollment or improving primary healthcare to reduce infant mortality.
This, he said, would enable citizens to verify and track the progress of these projects.
He said, “We need more transparency and when we talk about transparency in terms of figures, you show it…Tell us how you arrive at it and we will believe it. When we talk about subsidy, I have continuously said if you are removing subsidy, what are we replacing it with? Where are we applying that subsidy we removed to?
“If you say to me, I have removed subsidy and I will use it to build this number of classrooms to be able to pull out of school children into school.
So we can verify and follow and track those schools. When we have issues in health, primary health care, essentially issue of infant mortality, removal of subsidy will enable us build this number of healthcare, so that we can measure it. So don’t remove something without telling us what is replaced and where we are spending the money into,” he added.
Obi's statement comes as the Tinubu government faces criticism over its handling of the fuel subsidy removal, with many Nigerians expressing concerns about the potential impact on the economy and their livelihoods.
The government has maintained that the removal of the subsidy is necessary to address the country's economic challenges, but Obi's call for transparency has resonated with many who seek accountability and clarity on how the funds are being used.
SaharaReporters also reported that oil marketers were expressing growing concerns about the potential price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) from the Dangote Petroleum Refinery, as the landing cost of imported petrol has surged to approximately N1120 per litre.
The increase in the landing cost, which was reported at N1117 per litre in July, has put pressure on dealers to consider alternative sources for their petrol supplies.
With pump prices fluctuating between N600 and N700 per litre in July and rising to between N855 and N897 per litre last week, the cost of petrol has been on a steady upward trajectory.