By Akinwale Kasali

A senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, Femi Falana, has advised the Federal Government not to bow under the unnecessary pressure by the International Monetary Fund, IMF, to increase the electricity tariff and fuel pump price.

Nigerians are presently facing economic hardship following the deplorable State of the nation’s economy that has led to protests in some part of the country.

Falana, Chairman, Alliance on Surviving Covid 19 and Beyond, ASCAB,  in a statement on Friday 16th February, 2024, advised President Bola Tinubu to reject the IMF’s advice and not further inflict pains on Nigerians.

Falana said that contrast advice given to UK Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt against cutting taxes by the IMF, should be totally rejected by the President.

He said: “Sometime in November 2023, the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, said that President Bola Tinubu stopped the implementation of a hike in electricity tariff and insisted that subsidy be paid on power consumed nationwide.

Adelabu said then “Tariffs should have been raised months back, but Mr President said until we can achieve regular and incremental power supply we can’t touch the tariff.

The Minister also said that “But for political reasons and empathy, you can not cause additional burden on Nigerians. We just had the removal of the fuel subsidy, we are talking about the exchange rate skyrocketing, galloping inflation, and so many others that bring hardship to the people.”

On January 1, 2024, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) equally dismissed the widespread rumours of an increase in electricity.

“In the same vein, on February 8, 2024, the Nigerian state-oil company the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited said that it had no plans to raise petrol prices after a second devaluation of the Naira in less than a year, following speculation that it could increase prices to recover some of its import costs.

“The NNPC — the sole importer of petrol because local private firms are unable to obtain foreign currency — urged Nigerians to disregard the speculation about price rises, adding that “there are no plans for an upward review of the (petrol) price.

“However, three days ago, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) directed the Bola Tinubu administration to remove the pump price of fuel and electricity tariffs without any further delay on the grounds that “current subsidized rates are thought to be significantly below the actual market prices. By phasing out these subsidies, the government would allow fuel and electricity prices to align more closely with their true market value, potentially leading to increased costs for consumers.

“Barely 24 hours later, the Minister of Power, Mr. Adedibu said that Nigeria could not continue to subsidise electricity, adding that the nation must begin to move towards a cost-effective tariff model, as the country is currently indebted to the tune of 1.3 trillion naira to generating companies (GenCos) and 1.3 billion dollars owed gas companies.”

“It is doubtful if the neoliberal ideologues in government are aware of the fact that on January 30, 2024, the IMF warned the UK Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt against cutting taxes, arguing that country needs to curb public borrowing and prioritise spending in areas such as health, education and tackling climate change. Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas, IMF chief economist, told the Financial Times that the UK’s focus should be on “the path towards a fiscal consolidation” despite expectations that Hunt would cut taxes at his spring Budget.

“ Hunt should be “trying to rebuild fiscal buffers . . . in the context in which there are important spending needs”, Gourinchas said, rather than add to the £20bn of personal and business tax cuts delivered in November. We would rather wish they would not do this type of tax cuts, and that they would instead focus on both addressing the spending needs and on the path towards a fiscal consolidation.

“ In urging the Bola Tinubu administration to pluck up the courage to reject the dangerous directives of the IMF to further increase the pump price of PMS and electricity tariffs, the international intruder should be questioned for applying different standards to Nigeria and the United Kingdom. Henceforth, the Federal Government should halt the implementation of the dangerous prescriptions of the IMF including the removal of subsidies and floating of the Naira.

“Our economic managers should be wary of the  sort of lectures they receive from the IMF on the matter of subsidies given the realities in some advanced  capitalist economies.

“According to the London-based news agency, Reuters, on  June 8, 2023, the British  government said  that it had paid almost 40 billion pounds ($50 billion) in energy subsidies since it began to help households and businesses cope with the surge in power bills after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“The same Reuters reported  last year that the United States’ subsidies for renewable energy producers more than doubled between 2016 and 2022, forming nearly half of all federal energy-related support in that period. Renewable subsidies jumped to $15.6 billion in fiscal year 2022 from $7.4 billion in fiscal year 2016, according to the Energy Information Administration’s Federal Financial Interventions and Subsidies in Energy report.

The French newspaper, Le Monde,  also  reported that on  April 21, 2023, the French government said that it would continue subsidising electricity bills into 2025 as prices suffer from Russia’s invasion of “Ukraine and part of the country’s nuclear reactor fleet remaining offline. The IMF has not called on France to stop subsidising electricity and increase electricity tariffs. So, the IMF anti-subsidy campaign in Nigeria should be flatly rejected. “

By Akinwale Kasali

Afenifere, Pan Yoruba Socio-political Group has told Nigerians not to blame the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration for the present economic hardship the nation is undergoing. It stressed that the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari should be held responsible.

The foremost Yoruba Group in a Statement signed by the Group’s Publicity and Organising Secretaries, Jare Ajayi and Kole Omololu, said that the immediate past administration, dug political and economic holes for the administration of his successor.

It added that the Buhari administration “did not make provision for oil subsidies in last year’s budget which made Tinubu cancel the regime of oil subsidies in his inaugural speech.

It added that the “economic downturn was caused by Buhari’s administration which was built on a platform of hope and a defective federalism saying promises made were not fulfilled.

The group said that “Under Buhari’s watch, terrorists and banditry were operating effortlessly. Law and order broke down.

“Many innocent citizens including the daughter of our leader were killed and or kidnapped.

“President Buhari could not rein in his critical officials like the then Governor of CBN, Mr Godwin Emefiele, who was printing money rather than facing the reality of taking the difficult decisions, which were postponed till the evil day.”

The group said a probe panel accused Godwin Emefiele and his team of printing N22.7 trillion through ways and means and the federal government was borrowing to pay salaries and pensions during the years of the Buhari administration.

It added that some ministers suggested the removal of subsidies, among other economic decisions but President Buhari did not agree until his last year in office to lay a booby trap for the incoming administration of President Tinubu.

“ It was, therefore, obvious that we were simply postponing the evil day. The CBN Governor denied leaks flying around that the books were being doctored. He reassured the federation that all was well.

“ He even wanted to contest the presidential election! There were no penalties for his infractions by President Buhari.

“These inactions and false lives continued till May 29, 2023, when the new helmsman, Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu, was sworn in as President.

“President Tinubu wasted no time amending his inauguration address and declared the subsidy regime over! This was obvious as there was no appropriation for subsidy from June 2023.

“He quickly followed up with the deregulation of the forex regime, which resulted in the free fall of the Naira.

A man who is not shy about making difficult decisions, he probably underestimated the capability and capacity of the beneficiaries of the old order to make things ungovernable for his administration.”

Afenifere noted that “those sleeping and snoring during the eight years of Buhari suddenly woke up forgetting that these remedial actions should have been taken many years back.

“The major sin of President Tinubu was in his contesting and winning the presidential election and making these decisions, which will hurt in the short term but bring us back to reality in the long run.

Afenifere, therefore, suggested a vibrant Ministry of Information to regularly stay in touch with the people, as a way out of the economic downturn.

It also suggested regular town hall meetings across the country where ministers would go back to their constituencies to engage with the people.

The group said “there should be the realignment of the National Assembly budget and launch of operations go back to the people by the legislators and each member must take palliatives back to the constituency.

” Governors receiving almost double allocations due to the removal of subsidies and readjustment of the exchange rates should deliver to their people. The allocations of each state of the federation should be published monthly.

“Implementation of operation grow what we eat and eat what we grow policy. Make banditry, kidnapping, and terrorism a capital offence punishable by death.

“Return to true and fiscal federalism with state police, for which we commend the President and Governors’ endorsement, and state ownership of mineral resources.

“This is not the time for some elder statesmen to make incendiary comments that can put our unity in jeopardy. Rather, it is a time to deepen peaceful co-existence to navigate through our current challenges.

Afenifere noted that” Orchestrating anarchy will be resisted in our dear nation. We fought through our blood to achieve democracy. We will also vigorously defend it, as it is here to stay.”