AS MAN, NACCIMA, AND OTHERS APPLAUD UNIFIED FOREX, NLC CRITICIZES THE WITHDRAWAL OF SUBSIDIES.

The Nigeria Labour Congress said President Bola Tinubu was only flying a kite and lacked, the gasoline subsidy and converge foreign exchange rates.

The Nigerian Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA), the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), and the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE) argued that the president's action was positive and in the correct direction.

The Nigerian Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA) agreed with the MAN that the President's proposed policy to use the full range of fiscal measures to promote domestic manufacturing indicated better days were ahead for manufacturers.

However, Director General of MAN, Segun Ajayi-Kadir, stressed in an exclusive interview with Vanguard yesterday that the organization would still review the president's speech as soon as possible.

Therefore, it is highly praiseworthy and a sign that brighter times are ahead to hear the President remark that his industrial policy will make the most of all available fiscal tools to support domestic industry and reduce reliance on imports.

This is a good development in my opinion. It is an undeniable sign of a visionary strategic decision, one that resulted from careful consideration of the challenging manufacturing climate today and the necessity to halt the shameful de-industrialization of the Nigerian economy.

What is most satisfying is that it was initiated by the President right away. The President's speech addressed several issues, including the need to end the long-overdue fuel subsidy and multiple, frequently punitive taxes, contradictory fiscal and monetary policy measures, skewed and poor management of the foreign exchange regime, and multiple, often punitive taxes. I think these issues are important to manufacturers in particular and the business community in general.

The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, must be given a marching order in order to proceed toward a single exchange rate.

We also anticipate that the President would order a reversal of the government's unjustified violation of its three-year roadmap for increasing excise taxes on tobacco and alcoholic beverages, in keeping with his pledge to enable a supportive fiscal policy environment. As we have demonstrated, the most recent increase, which is part of the Fiscal Policy Measures for 2023, will have a negative impact on government revenue in the near future in addition to ruining the impacted sectors.

Some of the promises Tinubu made about the economy in his inaugural speech, according to NACCIMA Director General Dr. Sola Obadimu, are good moves in the right direction.

They are positive moves in the right direction, according to Obadimu. He discussed the need for FX rate harmonization, which is also beneficial for transparency and luring foreign investment, as well as the need to make it simpler for international businesses to repatriate their funds. All of these are excellent.

Removal of subsidies will cause Nigeria to regress in 48 hours — NLC

NLC President Joe Ajaero responded in a curt text, saying, The comment on gasoline subsidy withdrawal is not well thought through, coming as an inaugural speech.

Within the next 48 hours, it will cause the nation's economy to contract by more than 50%. Nigerians will speak as a united front when the time is right.

Decisions have a lot of potential advantages. – CPPE

President Tinubu's decision to discontinue gasoline subsidies has great potential benefits for the nation, according to Dr. Muda Yusuf, chief executive officer of the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise, or CPPE.

“We appreciate Bola Tinubu, our new president, taking a stand against subsidy removal,” he stated. Eliminating fuel subsidies has significant potential advantages. There is first the revenue effect. About N7 trillion would be made available in the federation account after the withdrawal. This would lower the fiscal deficit and, in turn, lessen the strain of the growing debt.