A former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in Ogun State, Segun Sowunmi has addressed Nigeria’s ongoing fuel crisis during an interview on the sidelines of the 30th Nigerian Economic Summit.
He voiced the collective disappointment of Nigerians who, despite the inauguration of the Dangote Refinery, still face high petrol prices.
“Before we got the Dangote Refinery, we all held our breath, believing that once we had a refinery, we would get out of this problem. But now we have Dangote Refinery and we still have to deal with some challenges,” Sowunmi remarked.
He stressed the urgent need for a balance between market forces, monopolies, and government regulations to protect citizens from being exploited. Sowunmi pointed out that it is the government’s responsibility to safeguard the well-being of its people, particularly when powerful monopolies are involved.
“So I’ve been studying the books, I’ve been, you know, combing through the history of the whole thing to figure out where the market force and the monopoly and government regulation must intersect to protect the citizen,” Sowunmi explained. “But what I can just say in the meantime is that it is the duty of the government to protect its citizens, especially in the face of big monopolies and big private sector players.”
He added that, when it comes to essential products like fuel, the government must intervene if necessary to lower prices: “And if they have a central product that all of their life depends on, I don’t know what name you want to call it, if you cannot call it subsidy then you have to depress the private sector people and force them to reduce prices.”
Sowunmi concluded by cautioning that, without government intervention, there could be broader consequences: “Maybe you will give up some of your taxes or whatever you do, but there is no way we’re going to leave citizens at the mercy of the private sector. That’s not going to be the way sensible leaders behave because at the end of the day, if the citizens get fed up and there’s a revolt, even the private sector will not wait.”