The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) has called on President Goodluck Jonathan to temporarily suspend the removal of fuel subsidy to demon-strate the genuineness of government’s empathy with its people in response to their yearnings.

A statement signed by its Chairman, Professor Francis Ojaide, noted that though the subsidy removal and the full deregulation of the downstream sector of the petroleum industry essentially constituted sound strategic economic policies, the reactions of Nigerians, particularly those who have been protesting on the streets since the removal, were a demonstration of the citizens’ lack of trust in the government.

The Institute emphasised that the removal of subsidy was rather sudden, without adequate consultation and brusquely communicated to the populace, stressing that the suspension of the policy would be a mark of courage and statesman-ship, not weakness, to defer to the voices of Nigerians, with whom the ultimate power rests.

The professional accounting body pointed out that the current security challenge in the country was further exacerbated by the strikes and mass protest, stating the need for vigilance, caution, reason, understanding and sacrifice on the part of all stakeholders in order not to plunge the nation into avoidable chaos and crisis.

While suggesting that the subsidy removal be done in phases, the body urged  the government “to make  the  entire process transpa-rent and fair, with proper accountability, disclosing the nature  and amount of  the  subsidy, the identity  of the indivi-duals  and entities bene-fiting  from these sub-sidies and articulating  clearly the development  initiatives into  which  the amount realisable from the removal of  subsidy  will be  ploughed”.

The Institute made case for accelerated turn around maintenance of existing refineries and infrastructural develo-pment such that the cost of doing business in the country will reduce considerably, adding that government must make concerted and visible efforts to eliminate corruption in every facet of the nation’s economy.

“For meaningful development to take place in Nigeria, we must deliberately become foes of deceit and champions of integrity. Economic saboteurs and law breakers must be brought to justice and all loop- holes for leakages must be blocked. The government should take appropriate steps to revisit KPMG Audit Report on subsidy and implement the recommendations of the firm on the fuel subsidy issue. Here lies the ultimate economic survival of the nation,” the statement read in part.