Former Nigeria Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has urged President Bola Tinubu to provide clarity on the fuel subsidy regime he promised during his inauguration ceremony.
Bola Tinubu during his inauguration speech announced that his administration will remove the petrol subsidy to prevent the country from going bankrupt.
The payment of fossil fuel subsidies on petroleum products like Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), Dual Purpose Kerosene (DPK), and Automotive Gas oil (AGO) started in 1970 by the Federal Government to minimise the effect of global oil price volatility on Nigerians and its inhabitants.
The Nigerian government is still paying for the subsidy on PMS, popularly known as fuel after one year of the Bola Tinubu administration but some government officials claim the subsidy has been removed.
In a statement, Atiku Abubakar indicated that it is curious that since April 2024, fuel queues have mounted at many filling stations across Nigeria, and the infamous ‘black market’ has sprouted in several states.
“These were my exact words: “…provide clarity on the fuel subsidy regime, including the fiscal commitments and benefits from the fuel subsidy reform and the impact of this on the Federation Accounts. It is curious that since April 2024, fuel queues have mounted at many filling stations across Nigeria, and the infamous ‘black market’ has sprouted in several states. How much PMS is being imported and distributed, and at what cost? What is the implicit subsidy?” He said.
“If the subsidy regime had been characterised by opaqueness, what would we say of a situation where the subsidy is still being paid under the cover without Nigerians in the know? Like millions of Nigerians, I was shocked to learn through media reports that the “government is still supporting downstream consumption.” Part of the statement read.
“President Bola Tinubu, at his inauguration on May 29, 2023, announced the abolishment of the subsidy on PMS, popularly known as fuel. Ever since, it has been a bragging right of Tinubu and officials of his administration. I had in my statement reviewing the one year of the Bola Tinubu administration urged the government to come clean on the actual position of the subsidy policy.”
According to the entrepreneur and a former Deputy Director of the Nigerian Customs and Excise Department, the country is witnessing a cocktail of trial-and-error economic policies since the regime of President Bola Tinubu.
He said the current administration is deceiving the citizens because the expenditure on fuel subsidy may reach N5.4 trillion in 2024, compared to the N3.6 trillion spent in 2023, the same year that Tinubu claimed to have abolished fuel subsidy
“Now we know that expenditure on fuel subsidy may reach N5.4 trillion in 2024, compared to the N3.6 trillion spent in 2023, the same year that Tinubu claimed to have abolished fuel subsidy. I wish to restate that Nigeria is not working, and what we have had in a little over a year is a cocktail of trial-and-error economic policies. Paying subsidies and lying about it is nothing to brag about. Nigerians deserve better than this deception. -AA” Atiku Abubakar stated.
Source: Elvisanokyenews.com
