Cross River State Governor, Prince Bassey Otu, has commended the efforts of President Bola Tinubu to sanitise Nigeria’s oil sector since his assumption of office about a month ago.
Otu while speaking in his office in Calabar, said Tinubu saw the need to sanitize the oil sector and deemed it necessary to remove fuel subsidy.
He assured Nigerians of reaping the long-term benefits of the subsidy removal.
The Governor claimed he began campaigning for the removal of fuel subsidy in 2003 because he perceived it as merely creating many briefcase millionaires, who worked for nothing but only sit in the comfort of their homes to become millionaires.
Otu said Cross River has to synergize to ensure that whatever palliatives are put in place will be such that will mitigate and ameliorate the sufferings of the people.
“I know that each state has its own peculiarity that is why we need to synergize so that whatever palliatives that will come, we too will benefit,” he said.
Governor Otu also wondered what effects salary increase will have, given the spiral inflation in the country.
He added, “I know that some states have proposed salary increments which I am not against but my problem is the value such increments will have in the economy considering the fact that goods and services have already skyrocketed because of the fuel hike occasioned by subsidy removal.
“So, we need to properly work out a system that will be beneficial to all the citizenry, not only the civil servants because everyone bears this brunt.”
The Cross River Governor urged Nigerians to endure the current socio-economic pains as the government was fashioning out ways to mitigate the situation.
“We have to endure this pain for us to correct the error as well as build a sustainable economy for posterity,” he said.