Subsidy Scam: NECA Wants ‘Cabal’ Exposed

The Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA) has charged the Federal Government to unravel the scam surrounding fuel subsidy and make a pronouncement on a definitive plan to remove it.
Director-General of NECA, Adewale-Smatt Oyerinde, made the call recently while addressing journalists in Lagos, saying it was distressing to witness long queues in petrol stations across the country when the government claimed to have paid trillions in petrol subsidy.
He noted that 2022 remained one of the most challenging years for the organised private sector, adding that the pandemic-inflicted leadership and sustainability challenges forced organisations to take extraordinary measures in real-time with zero planning.
“Government has to stop making a mockery of Nigeria and the citizens. Notwithstanding the subsidy payment, Nigerians are still compelled to endure long queues to buy it at almost a black market rate, fuelling inflation and economic hardship”, he said.
Oyerinde claimed that enterprises in Nigeria were forced to operate under excruciating circumstances.
“Things changed drastically and dramatically, leaving no industry across the world unaffected. In Nigeria, enterprises were forced to operate under excruciating circumstances, made worse by inherent systemic contradictions.
“As organisations faced sustainability issues, they, at the same time, had to deal with rising energy costs, regulatory gangsterism, inconsistencies and contradictions in the fiscal and monetary policies, which has made doing business unattractive and created clogs in the wheel of attracting foreign direct investment, rising inflation and increasing cost of doing business,” he stated.