The National Economic Council announced on Thursday that the petrol subsidy in Nigeria should “not be removed” as planned for June 2023. Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, disclosed this to State House correspondents after the valedictory Council meeting, presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.
Ahmed stated that the Council agreed on the need for continued discussions on the issue and that the FG, together with states and representatives of the incoming administration, require more preparatory work.
According to Ahmed, “Council agreed that the timing of the removal of fuel subsidy should not be now. But that we should continue with all of the preparatory works that need to be done and that this preparatory has to be done in consultation with the states and other key stakeholders including representatives of the incoming administration.”
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She further noted that the “Council agreed that the fuel subsidy must be removed earlier rather than later because it is not sustainable. We cannot afford it anymore. But we have to do it in such a way that the impact of the subsidy is as much as possible, mitigated on the lives of ordinary Nigerians.”
Ahmed added that the FG will be working together with representatives of the states between now and June 2023. “We have a plan that we will start working on, putting the building blocks towards the eventual removal of the first subsidy,” she said.
“And if I may remind this forum that the budget for 2023 has a provision for fuel subsidy only up to June 2023 and also the Petroleum Industry Act has a provision that requires that all petroleum products must be deregulated 18 months after the effective date of the PMS removal and that that period is also up to June 2020.”
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