The National Economic Council (NEC) had on Thursday asked the Federal Government to suspend the planned removal of subsidies on Petroleum products.
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This was disclosed by Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, the Minister of Finance, Budget, and National Planning while briefing State House correspondents at the end of the NEC meeting presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The minister stated that the Council after deliberation on the matter, resolved that it cannot be removed for now as it was not a favourable time.
The Minister however did not disclose a new timeline for the removal of the subsidy but rather stated that NEC agreed on the need to continue the discussion on the matter and the necessary preparatory work in conjunction with states and representatives of the incoming administration.
She noted that the 2023 budget provides for subsidy only up to June 2023. She said there might be a need to send a supplementary budget to the National Assembly if the incoming administration aligned with the decision to extend subsidy removal.
Therefore, she said the Federal Government had agreed to form an expanded committee to consider the removal process. This includes determining the exact time and the measures to be taken to support the poor and vulnerable and ensure a sufficient supply of petroleum products nationwide.
“So this is a decision that has been taken to expand the committee that is currently working with representatives of the states and it will also have to be engaging with the petroleum marketers.
“The immediate committee comprises the Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning, the NNPCL, the regulator, and the downstream and upstream regulators.
“So there’ll be an expanded committee so that it is not just a few people’s thoughts that will guide the process so that there is sufficient consultation taking inputs from key stakeholders on the measures that need to be taken. What I said is that it is not going to be removed now, which means it will not be removed before the transition is completed,” Ahmed said.
In January 2022, the Buhari Administration proposed an 18 months extension to the National Assembly for the implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), and thus putting setting the plan to end fuel subsidy by June 2023.
The Petroleum Industry bill signed by President Muhammadu Buhari in August 2021 does not create room for subsidy.
The Buhari Administration has already secured a World Bank loan US$800 million, which Mrs Zainab Ahmed said earlier in the month will be used to attend to a segment of post-petroleum subsidy palliatives requirement in the country.
According to her then, the $800 million is the first tranche of palliatives to be disbursed through cash transfers to about 50 million Nigerians, who belong to the most vulnerable category of society.
Speaking on Thursday about the US$800m, the Minister stated that “So far, what we have is that $800m that has been secured and intact. Again, that is a matter for discussion. The states may have their own plans, they may want to have their own designated programmes different from what the federal government may want to do.”
Nnamdi Maduakor is a Writer, Investor and Entrepreneur
