In apparent reference to the removal of subsidy on petrol by the present administration, Presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the last election and known supporter for the withdrawal of subsidy on petroleum products, Mr. Peter Obi, has likened the week old removal to a dentist who forcefully pulled out a tooth without local anaesthesia.
He spoke in Abuja to journalists as he stepped out of the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal, hearing his petition against President Bola Tinubu.
Obi said on Tuesday that his support for subsidy removal dates back to the era of former President Goodluck Jonathan, when he was a member of the Presidential economic management team.
“If you have followed me very well right from the time I was a member of Jonathan’s economic management team, I consistently maintained that subsidy should be removed because I see it as organised crime. People were just stealing the resources of the country and I showed empirically in my statistical analysis that we are not consuming the amount of fuel they claim we consume.
The former Anambra state Governor differentiated his idea of subsidy removal from what is happening in the country now.
He said that if you approach a dentist to remove a painful tooth, he will apply a local anesthetic to numb the area around the tooth so you do not feel pain.
“It’s not the same thing as pulling the tooth forcefully, the pain you feel will be different.
“For me, I will go with the approach of the dentist while supporting the removal of the tooth because I wouldn’t want to go through the pain of forceful removal.
“Recall that even when Jonathan wanted to remove it they came up with various relieving policies like SureP and others.
“If you read my manifesto you will see clearly how I planned to remove subsidy, I will govern with the people and show them statistically and empirically what we are getting and how we are deploying it.
“The problem In Nigeria is that when people say let’s go and suffer, let’s go and sacrifice, they don’t see the results of their suffering and their sacrifice.”
