Calls for probe of Sirika
The Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, Section on Public Interest and Development Law (NBA-SPIDEL), has said that the removal of subsidy on the price of petrol by the federal government has subjected Nigerians to suffering.
Chairman of the section, Dr Monday Ubani, faulted the process of removing the subsidy and called on President Bola Tinubu to immediately put measures in place to mitigate the suffering of the masses.
Ubani who spokes at a media briefing in Lagos yesterday said although majority of Nigerians do not understand the huge scam that subsidy represents in the oil sector, the process and procedure for the removal were faulty.
“This has occasioned severe consequences and taken a toll on the hapless citizens who are always the victims of such government policies that are not well thought out.
”The President must be told in clear terms that Nigerians are groaning in pain, especially with the sudden removal of the fuel subsidy.
”Salary increase for civil servants – whose population is infinitesimal compared to millions that are outside government employment – will not be enough to solve the present crisis.
“More drastic and well-thought out economic packages should be put in place to cushion the harsh effects of the new policy. Again, Mr. President must seek wisdom and the right kind of advice to navigate the present impasse the country has found itself.”
Ubani also called on the president to probe the former minister of aviation, Mr. Hadi Sirika over the fraud in the botched Nigeria Air project.
“If the assertion by the managing director of Nigeria Air, Dapo Olumide, during a Senate hearing that the aircraft said to be for Air Nigeria was merely a chartered flight from Ethiopian Airline to hoodwink Nigerians, then the matter should be investigated.
”We enjoin Mr. President to institute a high-powered panel of investigation to unearth this large-scale scam that has turned Nigeria into a laughing stock in the global aviation community.
“This matter is a litmus test for the new administration, especially if President Bola Tinubu wants to be seen as desirous of combating corruption in the polity,” he said.
