A former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Prof. Tam David-West, has said that Nigerians are subsidizing corruption and fraud with the present regime of prices for petroleum products.
David-West, who spoke shortly after organized labour called off the strike to protest the increase in the price of petrol, disagreed with labour on the step taken.
The former minister who challenged the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan to a debate on the actual cost of petrol in the country, said: “There is no subsidy.
“What we are subsidising is corruption and fraud.”
He said that rightly or wrongly the leaders of organized labour have created the impression in the minds of Nigerians that they are a sellout.
He said that labour should have stood its ground for a reversal to N65 and not accept anything short of that.
He added: “They have exposed themselves to be suspected, rightly or wrongly, to have been bribed by the government.
“What the labour leaders have done is in bad faith because they have exposed themselves to be suspected to have been bribed by the government.
“After all, they insisted that there was no going back on N65.
“Labour had a stronger ground than the government.
“Having lost 15 people to the protest, Labour has betrayed the people’s cause.
“I repeat that peace is better than war.
“However, peace without justice is no peace.”