By Okey Maduforo Awka.
Presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress ADC Atiku Abubakar has been dismissed for criticizing the 30 Days Petrol Discount embarked upon by the administration of President Ahmed Bola Tinubu.
Tinubu has however been landed over the said policy which has been described as a bridge towards improving or petroleum sector and not the projected destination.
According to the Director Media And Strategy for Tinubu Support Group (TSG) South East, Mr Chinedu Anselem Nebeife while speaking with reporters in Awka Anambra state capital, Atiku’s submissions snarks of one who spent eight years as Vice President yet could not get the sector working.
Nebeife contended that Nigerians are after the domestic relief the policy have given to them than duelling in figures that merely begs the question at the end of the day.
“Ask a commercial bus driver in Awka or a trader at Onitsha Main Market what fuel costs them, and you won’t get a lecture on fiscal frameworks”
“You’ll hear about fares, about the generator, about what it costs to move goods from one town to the next”
“That is the test every fuel policy must pass; not the speeches, but the pumpy that test, President Tinubu’s 30-day petrol discount at NNPC outlets is a government hearing its people and acting”
“”And for a transport operator who fills up daily, the savings accruing from the discount is real money, today”
He opined that the question being asked by Atiku Abubakar about what happens when the 30 days end. It is a fair question, but contended that the the relief is a bridge, not the destination.
He agued that reform that ended the old subsidy regime stands because the alternative was a system that consumed public funds while schools, roads and hospitals waited.
“Relief cushions the shock, while reform builds the road. And Nigerians should not be asked to choose between them”
Nebeife insisted that government has made it clear that its reform records are open to scrutiny and that a bridge must also be measured. Now, a government that invites scrutiny of its results is a government confident in them.
He dismissed the claims by Atiku Abubakar that the government of Tinubu borrowed his production-support proposal adding that Nigerians don’t vote on who spoke first but who delivers .
“How is eligible production verified? What guarantees that a cheaper barrel becomes a cheaper litre at the pump? A promise on paper has never filled a tank”
“The Tinubu administration has acted, while Atiku Abubakar, after decades at the centre of Nigerian politics, is still proposing. This point needs to be noted carefully”
“In the South-East our economy runs on movement: goods from Onitsha, Nnewi and Aba, traders on the road, small businesses powered by generators. When fuel costs fall, fares can fall, haulage can fall, and the price of what we eat can ease. When relief is announced but never felt, it fails”
“That is why we are asking people to watch the numbers, not the noise. Check the pump price, check your fare, check the market, and judge the results”
“Nigerians, today, are faced with two clear choices. The choice to choose a government that is reforming, responding and open to being measured, or a challenger offering a promise with no price t”
“Relief is not retreat, neither is reform an excuse for hardship. But more importantly, the only verdict that truly matters is the one delivered in the lives of the people. And that is the focus of the Tinubu-Shettima administration.
; he said.
