FORMER Head of Service of the Federation (HoSF), Prof Oladapo Afolabi yesterday urged the Federal Government to ensure that the pump price of fuel follows realistic world price to ensure that savings from subsidy is used in a productive way to empower the people.

He spoke as many fuel stations in Ibadan still dispensed Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) beyond the official pump price of N86.50k per litre.

Speaking at a public forum in the state capital,  Afolabi advised  that this could be done in a structured way that almost everybody would benefit, adding that the Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF) and SURE-P were attempts by the government to use subsidy that was accumulated to develop the country.

He said, “we should allow the petrol pump price to follow realistic world price so that whatever is saved from subsidy can be used in a productive way to empower the people. We can do that in a very structured way that almost everybody will benefit.

“There have being attempts seriously to do things like that. In the days of Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF), it was a kind of subsidy that was accumulated and used to develop Nigeria under Buhari. There was another attempt of SURE-P. Whatever was saved on subsidy was used for SURE-P. Whether it was PTF or SURE-P, people have different opinions, that things are not the way they should have been.”

Afolabi, who stated that market factors should be allowed to regulate the price of petrol, congratulated the government “for being truthful about the way the price of oil fluctuates and how the pump price should accordingly fluctuate. I know some marketers have started selling at N86.5k.”

He argued that Nigeria lacks the capacity to effectively monitor all the fuel stations and borders with other countries towards ensuring that the subsidy is not compromised, hence the need to let it go and allow free flow of the commodity in the market.

“But as a Nigerian who really knows the capacity of government, I don’t think we can police every petrol station or the border in a way that if we must continue to subsidise fuel, we are not just subsidising our neighbouring countries and the people therein,” he said.

Justifying why government should ensure that the pump price of petrol follows realistic world price, he explained that many African countries do not have crude oil, yet but are living well.