The federal government says it is considering how best to
achieve petrol subsidy removal without disrupting livelihoods in Nigeria
Gabriel Aduda, permanent secretary at the ministry of
petroleum resources, spoke to journalists on Thursday at the end of the 2023
Nigeria international energy summit (NIES).
Budgeting N3.35 trillion for the first half of 2023, the
federal government had said it would end under-recovery payments by June.
The government also said it would disburse the sum of $800
million secured from the World Bank, to poor Nigerians as part of its plans to
mitigate the effects of subsidy removal on the most vulnerable population in
the country.
Speaking on the planned petrol subsidy removal, Aduda said
the federal government was committed to halting the payments, but needs to
ensure that all indices are evaluated so that the impact would not be harsh on
ordinary Nigerians.
He said although petrol subsidy removal had been in focus
for sometime, industry stakeholders, as well as President Muhammadu Buhari, who
doubles as the minister of petroleum resources, were taking it very seriously.
“We totally understand the importance of removal of subsidy
but we also understand the greater importance of the citizens,” the permanent
secretary said.
“As we speak we are
still taking a very close look at how best to achieve subsidy [removal] without
disrupting the entire ecosystem of livelihood in Nigeria.
“Because that is our responsibility as government, we have
to ensure that the buffers are in place and forex is made available for
imports.
“We have to ensure that supply is available for a minimum of
six months to make disruption minimal.”
Aduda also said there were other issues to consider, but the
administration was dedicated to surmounting them.
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