Consequently, Nigerians must bear with the government. Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, made the declarations yesterday while briefing State House Correspondents at the end of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari.
Mohammed was joined at the briefing by the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister for Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN); Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola (SAN) and the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige. According to the Information Minister, “the current problem is not really about subsidy removal. It is about the fact that Nigeria is broke. Pure and simple!
“It is like somebody who has been earning N100,000 a month and he is faced with a situation where his employer says henceforth, you will be earning N10,000 a month. “He would need to make some very painful decisions and some very painful adjustments. That is the situation with Nigeria today.
A few months ago, we were earning as much as $100 for every barrel of crude. In the months of February and March, we were short of that. So, we no longer have the resources, the foreign exchange to bring in refined fuel products. And our economy is shrinking.
“We appreciate the fact that the decision is going to affect everybody. We appreciate what we are going through, but Nigerians should also know that the government has the responsibility at times to take very difficult decisions. So, it is not always about popularity. ”
On the strike by the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and other labour organisations over the increase in the petrol pump price, Ngige said that government was ready to discuss with all aggrieved groups over the new fuel price regime.
When asked why government was selective in its talks with labour groups, he replied: “We are trying to bring them under one roof on an issue that concerns all Nigerians. “We wanted to speak to the sensitive sectors of the economy, that is why we brought them together,” the minister explained.
The Labour Minister noted that government was already taking steps to meet some of the demands brought forward by Labour over the petrol price increase. Ngige said that a 15- man committee has been set up by government to look into such demands. One of them, according to him, was the reconstitution of the board of the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPRA).
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