In yet another twist to the subsidy story in Nigeria, the Federal Government has suspended the planned petrol subsidy removal.
The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed disclosed this on Monday in Abuja at a meeting convened by the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan at the National Assembly.
Also in attendance at the meeting were the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva and the Group Managing Director of NNPC Limited, Mele Kyari, representatives of Oil Companies and others.
The Finance Minister stated that the Federal Government had plans to remove subsidy on petroleum products from July 2022.
In series of conflicting reports and statements in recent weeks, Nigerians had braced for the upsurge in the price of petrol and the general rise in prices of other items and services.
Last week, Lawal had said Buhari did not direct the removal of petrol subsidy, saying their “constituents are raising concerns over the policy”.
Also in recent weeks, The National Economic Council (NEC) said it was considering the recommendations of its ad-hoc committee — which proposed full deregulation and N302 per litre for PMS.
The Punch reported Timipre Sylva as saying that the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), was not in support of the removal of subsidy from Premium Motor Subsidy, aka Petrol.
Sylva said this when he appeared on Channels Television’s Newsnight programme.
I will tell you categorically that at this moment the complete removal of subsidy is not on our plate at all,” Said Slyva.
“The President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is not in support of removing subsidy at this time.
He went on to say that they are working with Governors to see how they can continue with the subsidy policy for the foreseeable future.
At the meeting Ahmed said the federal government made adequate provision in the 2022 national budget for subsidy payment till June and as such concluded plans to remove fuel subsidy from July 2022.
“Provision was made in the 2022 budget for subsidy payment from January till June. That suggested that from July, there would be no subsidy.
“The provision was made sequel to the passage of the Petroleum Industry Act which indicated that all petroleum products would be deregulated. Sequel to the passage of the PIA, we went back to amend the fiscal framework to incorporate the subsidy removal.
“However, after the budget was passed, we had consultations with a number of stakeholders and it became clear that the timing was problematic. We discovered that practically, there is still heightened inflation and that the removal of subsidy would further worsen the situation and impose more difficulties on the citizenry.
“Mr President (Muhammadu Buhari), does not want to do that. What we are now doing is to continue with the ongoing discussions and consultations in terms of putting in place a number of measures.
“One of these include the roll-out of the refining capacities of the existing refineries and the new ones which would reduce the amount of products that would be imported into the country.
“We, therefore, need to return to the National Assembly to now amend the budget and make additional provision for subsidy from July 22 to whatever period that we agreed was suitable for the commencement of the total removal.’’
The Senate President, therefore, appealed to the organised labour unions in the country to shelve their planned nationwide protests as it was no longer necessary.
This night, Nigerians will breath a sigh of relief, but unless the Government can become more articulative in their policies and adequate cushioning back-up policies, it is only a matter of time before Nigerians find themselves at this bridge once again.
Nnamdi Maduakor is a Writer, Investor and Entrepreneur
