The Politics of Removal of Petroleum Subsidy, National Security and Legal Issues

Abstract

The Executive Secretary Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPRA) had in a statement on the 1^st January 2012, said that following extensive consultation with stakeholders across the nation, the subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) is hereby removed. By this announcement, the downstream sector of the petroleum industry had been deregulated. In the wake of this announcement, some filling stations had already started hoarding the fuel with a view to cause artificial scarcity. This decision by the government would negatively affect every sector of the economy as it would affect people’s purchasing power, cost of living, and cost of running business, inflation, currency devaluation, and increase in electricity tariffs, job losses, insecurity and deepening poverty.

The implication was the insincerity of those elected to govern the country in the interest of Nigerians and to deliver the dividends of democracy to the Nigeria’s populace. While the government claimed to be consulting on the fuel subsidy removal, the security operatives have vowed to smash any Nigerian who may publicly protest their feelings against the removal. The Nigeria Labour Congress and Trade Union Congress jointly issued and organized nationwide strikes, street demonstrations and mass protests. Consequently, this paper seeks to examine the implicative nature of the removal of the petroleum subsidy on national security in view of the present security challenges facing the nation, and constitutional safeguards and human rights issues. Increased awareness, public enlightenment, subsidy reinvestment and empowerment programmes are some of the recommendations put forward.         

Keywords: Subsidy, Petroleum Product, Removal, Security, De-regulation, Fuel, Regime.