Otti: Anyone Seeking Petrol Subsidy Return Does Not Mean Well for Nigeria

*Says subsidy promotes inefficiency, corruption 

*Clarifies his support for Tinubu 

*Warns neglect of National Library weakens Nigeria’s memory

Chuks Okocha and Olawale Ajimotokan in Abuja

Abia State Governor, Alex Otti, yesterday, defended the removal of petrol subsidy by the administration, arguing that subsidising consumption encourages inefficiency and corruption rather than production.
Otti said this during an interview on ARISE News Channel.

This comes as the Governor also warned that Nigeria’s neglect of its libraries was weakening the nation’s institutional memory, stressing the need for stronger investment in the preservation and digitisation of the country’s intellectual heritage.
The governor said he supported the removal of petrol subsidy and warned against attempts to restore it, arguing that government resources should be channeled towards supporting production and creating systems that enable businesses to operate efficiently.

“I’ve always been consistent on subsidy. And I’ve written extensively. I also refer you to my back page in THISDAY, including the one that I wrote in 2020 during COVID-19. At that time, nobody was buying oil, and I said it was a good time to remove subsidy,” he said.

Otti said subsidising consumption could encourage waste and create opportunities for abuse, while consumers became more conscious of their usage when they bore the cost themselves.
“When you subsidise consumption rather than production, you are just subsidising laziness. You are subsidising, sometimes, corruption,” he said.

He maintained that the removal of petrol subsidy was the right decision, despite the initial hardship associated with the policy, adding that consistency and proper management could eventually produce greater efficiency.
“You know, as election approaches, people will be making all sorts of arguments. But removing the subsidy was the right thing to be done,” he said.

He added: “If you are pushing for subsidy to return, you don’t mean well for the country.”
On electricity, Otti said businesses did not necessarily require subsidies if government could guarantee reliable power supply.
“For the people who use it for production, for their factories, those people, they really don’t need the subsidy. They just need the constant power supply. And once you’re able to guarantee them constant power supply, they’ll pay,” he said.
Otti, who is a member of the Labour Party, also clarified his support for President Bola Tinubu, while acknowledging Tinubu’s right to seek re-election.

“I have a presidential candidate and it is expected that I support my party’s presidential candidate,” he said.
Asked about his position on Tinubu’s re-election bid, Otti said he was not in a position to oppose the President, arguing that doing so while being part of the government would amount to working towards an implosion.
“I’m not in a position to oppose his (Tinubu’s) candidacy,” he said.

He added that disagreements within government could be addressed internally rather than through open confrontation.
Speaking on his administration’s management of Abia’s finances, Otti said the state had committed at least 80 per cent of its annual budget to capital expenditure over the past three years.

“We said no less than 80 per cent of our budget will go into capital expenditure. So, in the last three years, 80 per cent to sometimes 82 per cent of our budget was in capital expenditure, leaving a meagre 18 per cent for recurrent spending,” he said.
He said the policy had enabled the state to channel more resources into roads, hospitals, schools and environmental projects.
Otti also identified the reduction of the cost of governance as a key component of his administration’s financial strategy, saying governance expenditure had been kept within 20 per cent of the state’s total expenditure.

He said salaries accounted for about 11.9 per cent of the state’s costs, despite the implementation of the new minimum wage.
On inherited liabilities, Otti said his administration inherited N191.2 billion in debts when it assumed office in 2023, including contractor debts, pension arrears and obligations to multilateral institutions.

He said the state had reduced the debt to about N48.4 billion, representing a reduction of almost 75 per cent.
Meanwhile, Otti has warned that the neglect of Nigeria’s libraries is weakening the country’s institutional memory.
He gave the warning in Abuja at the launch of the Endowment Foundation for the National Library of Nigeria, where he was represented by his Special Adviser on Monitoring and Evaluation, Ugochukwu Okoroafor.

Otti described libraries as critical institutions for preserving a nation’s knowledge, history and intellectual heritage, saying their role had become even more important in the digital age.
“A nation that neglects its libraries weakens its memory. A nation that strengthens them gives its people the tools to think, to innovate, and to build,” he said.

He stressed the need to preserve igeria’s documentary and intellectual heritage in secure, searchable and accessible formats, adding that digitisation could no longer be treated as an optional modernisation project, particularly in the age of artificial intelligence.

“Our libraries should connect the wisdom of the past with the technologies shaping the future,” he said.
Otti said government could not accomplish the task alone, noting that libraries and schools required public investment as well as expertise, philanthropy and innovation from the private sector.

He described the Endowment Foundation as an important platform for government, businesses, academia and public-spirited citizens to collaborate in expanding access to knowledge and sustaining the country’s libraries.

The Chief Executive Officer of the National Library of Nigeria, Prof. Chinwe Anunobi, said the foundation was established in response to the institution’s inability to adequately preserve the nation’s memory under prevailing funding constraints.

The launch was attended by several dignitaries, including the Deputy Chairman, House Committee on Delegated Legislation, Hon. Dominic Okafor, and Chairman, Synergy Infrastructure Development and Investment Limited, Alhassan Dantata.