President Bola Tinubu has declared that there would no longer be a petroleum subsidy regime as the current 2023 budget he glimpsed does not contain it.
He stated this on Monday in his inaugural
address at the Eagle Square, Abuja.
The current 2023 budget has provision for the
fuel subsidy till June.
Mr Tinubu stated that funds for subsidies
will be diverted to other things like public infrastructure, education, health
care and jobs.
“We commend the decision of the outgoing
administration in phasing out the petrol subsidy regime which has increasingly
favoured the rich more than the poor. Subsidy can no longer justify its
ever-increasing costs in the wake of drying resources.
“We shall, instead, re-channel the funds into
better investment in public infrastructure, education, health care and jobs
that will materially improve the lives of millions,” he said.
The Nigerian government has, for decades,
subsidised fuel and fixed retail prices of petroleum products. The payment has,
however, threatened the nation’s fiscal position and impacted the government’s
ability to fund developmental projects across the nation.
In November 2021, the federal government
announced its plan to remove the fuel subsidy and replace it with a monthly
N5,000 transport grant for poor Nigerians.
But the government later suspended the plan
after the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC)
threatened to embark on mass protests.
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