Arise TV’s Rufai Oseni explains why Tinubu’s petrol discount is fue subsidy [VIDEO]
Arise News Television presenter Rufai Oseni has explained why he considers the Federal Government’s recent petrol price discount a reintroduction of fuel subsidy.
DAILY POST reports that the Federal Government, on October 8, announced a 30-day petrol price discount at Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) filling stations nationwide.
The move has attracted criticism from opposition figures, who accused the President Bola Tinubu-led administration of subtly reintroducing the fuel subsidy removed on May 27, 2023.
In a video clip posted on his official X handle on Saturday, Oseni argued that foregoing profits on a product for a specific purpose amounts to a form of subsidy.
He said, “I’ve been seeing a lot of ignorance being spread. Don’t let them deceive you. What the government did was a return of fuel subsidy.
“With their lies of NNPC discount, it is still a subsidy. Whenever you forfeit your profit, you have subsidised the product as an incentive. Somebody made a video to say that N60 cannot be a subsidy. Even if it is N10, as long as it is a forfeit of your profit, it’s a form of subsidy.
“You can put subsidies in many ways to gain market advantage. If you are producing something, you can decide to subsidise the price to be able to get market advantage.
“Secondly, there was another production subsidy that was announced or proposed in that press conference, where they talked about the proposal to sell the cap price of crude oil to refiners for a certain period of time.”