This Day
15 January 2012
Despite the outrage over the January 1 removal of fuel subsidy and attempts by labour and civil society groups to court governors to back the protests, reasons emerged at the weekend why governors of the 36 governors of the federation will support the controversial policy.
According to sources, notwithstanding the feeble attempts by Action Congress of Nigeria governors to distance themselves from the policy, the governors, irrespective of party affiliations, were helpless over the issue of fuel subsidy removal.
One of the sources, a governor from the southern part of the country, said they had long taken a decision that the federal government should cease to illegally deduct funds accruable to states at source to fund fuel subsidy.
The decision, THISDAY gathered, was taken in the wake of the controversy that trailed the agitation for the implementation of the N18,000 minimum wage.
“It is difficult for us (the governors) to have our cake and eat it. We had fought the government at the centre to a standstill over illegal deductions of our money and if this is so, then I didn’t see how the federal government would sustain the subsidy on fuel,” the governor said.
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