The plan to remove the subsidy on the supply and distribution of petrol is on course, the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, has said.
The Minister spoke on Friday in Abuja amid media reports that the federal government was contemplating the suspension of the plans to remove fuel subsidy.
Debunking the reports, the Minister who spoke through her spokesperson, Yunusa Tanko Abdullahi, said the government has said that it has not suspended the policy, rather it was expanding the size of the subsidy removal committee to include repsresentatives of the incoming administration and the state governors.
The Minister who spoke on Thursday shortly after the National Economic Council (NEC) meeting chaired by the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, said that NEC deliberated on the issue extensively.
The decision from the NEC meeting, Abdullahi said, was that the subsidy must be removed from the petroleum products pricing template as it was not sustainable.
He quoted the Minister as saying that there was a need for further consultations on the issue, especially the need to involve members of the incoming administration and representatives of the State governments.
“We agreed to form an expanded committee that will be looking at the process for the removal of the subsidy, including determining the exact time as well as the measures that need to be taken to provide support to the poor and the vulnerable. There is also the need to agree on alternative measures to ensure there is sufficient supply of petroleum products in the country,” the Minister explained.
The Subsidy Removal Committee, she said, currently comprises the Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Chief Economic Adviser to the President.
Ahmed said the 2023 Fiscal Framework and Appropriation Act as well as the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) have made provisions for the government to exit the fuel subsidy regime by June 2023.
“The Committee is working out a road map for the removal of the subsidy. No change in the overall policy direction regarding the petrol subsidy is envisaged by June 2023,” she said.
