Odita Sunday 
HURIWA faults subsidy removal, demands transparency over N15.8trn savings
By Odita Sunday
The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), through its National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Nnadozie Onwubiko, has described the removal of petrol subsidy as illegitimate, unconstitutional and fundamentally anti-poor, insisting that Nigerians were never given an opportunity to reach a national consensus on the policy.
Onwubiko, in a statement issued on Monday, rejected the Federal Government’s insistence that there would be no return to the subsidy regime, arguing that the subsidy debate could not be declared permanently settled by the Presidency.
He said the removal was announced by President Bola Tinubu on May 29, 2023, the day he was sworn into office, without what HURIWA considered adequate national debate, broad-based consultation or an acceptable referendum on the policy.
According to him, government cannot continue to impose increases in the prices of petrol, diesel and cooking gas while millions of Nigerians grapple with inflation, unemployment, declining purchasing power and worsening poverty.
Onwubiko warned that escalating energy costs were aggravating the cost-of-living crisis and pushing more Nigerians into economic hardship.
He also faulted the Presidency’s declaration that there was “no going back” on subsidy removal, saying such a position should not be used to shut down legitimate public debate over the consequences of the policy.
The HURIWA coordinator maintained that Nigerians have the constitutional right to organise peaceful protests and demand policies capable of protecting their economic and social rights if government continues to increase the prices of essential energy products.
He therefore called on Nigerians to peacefully mobilise against what he described as incessant petrol price hikes and demand the restoration of an appropriate and transparent form of fuel subsidy, or another effective mechanism capable of shielding citizens from unbearable energy costs.
Onwubiko also questioned the justification for the policy based on the argument that subsidy removal had generated trillions of naira for the federation.
He cited the claim by the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, that subsidy removal generated N15.8 trillion in resources for the federation between June 2023 and December 2025, with N5.4 trillion accruing to the Federal Government and N10.4 trillion shared among states and local governments.
“What measurable improvements in the living conditions of ordinary Nigerians can be directly linked to these enormous savings?” HURIWA asked.
Onwubiko further addressed the Presidency’s argument, conveyed by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, that restoring subsidy would create legal and fiscal complications and discourage investment in domestic refining.
He said such concerns should not override the fundamental question of citizens’ welfare, adding that alternative approaches to managing the oil and gas sector deserved serious public scrutiny.
The HURIWA coordinator also referred to former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar’s proposal for a controlled intervention in the oil and gas sector rather than a return to what Atiku described as the opaque subsidy regime of the past.
According to Onwubiko, the proposal should not be dismissed outright, particularly as millions of Nigerians continue to bear the consequences of high energy prices.
He said the national conversation should instead focus on guaranteeing affordable energy, protecting vulnerable citizens, strengthening domestic refining and preventing corruption and abuse in the management of public resources.
HURIWA, he said, also recognised the need for Nigeria to avoid the corruption, smuggling, rent-seeking and fiscal leakages associated with the former subsidy regime.
However, Onwubiko argued that removing subsidy without establishing an effective alternative social protection mechanism amounted to transferring the burden of economic adjustment almost entirely to ordinary Nigerians.
He demanded full transparency in the utilisation of funds saved from subsidy removal and called on the Federal Government to publish verifiable evidence showing how the savings had been deployed to improve transportation, healthcare, education, infrastructure, wages, social protection and other essential services.
The HURIWA coordinator warned that Nigerians should not be expected to accept permanent economic hardship simply because government describes subsidy removal as an economic reform.
He said continued increases in petrol, diesel and cooking gas prices would deepen inflation, weaken local businesses, raise transportation and food costs and further erode the purchasing power of workers, pensioners and low-income households.
Onwubiko urged the Federal Government to urgently review its energy pricing policy and introduce measures capable of reducing the cost of energy without creating another avenue for corruption.
He stressed that the welfare of Nigerians must remain the primary consideration in every economic reform, while urging the government to respect citizens’ constitutional rights to peaceful assembly, expression and protest.
HURIWA maintained that economic reforms could not be sustainable when citizens were excluded from meaningful consultation and left to bear the heaviest burden of such reforms.
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