Former Kaduna central lawmaker, Senator Shehu Sani, has asked the federal government to keep safe the $800 million it received earlier as a loan from the World Bank to cushion the effect of the planned fuel subsidy removal.
For months now, the Nigerian government has maintained it will remove subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) to broaden its revenue.
The planned petrol subsidy removal was scheduled to commence in June 2023. The government, however, announced on Thursday, April 27 that the plan is now suspended.
Speaking on the development shortly after the National Executive Council (NEC) meeting yesterday, which comprises State Governors, the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, said after extensive deliberation on the issue, a conclusion was reached that it will not be wise to remove subsidy as soon as the new administration is trying to settle down to governance.
Naija News understands that the NEC meeting yesterday was chaired by Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo.
Ahmed also noted in her update yesterday that the existing committee that has been discussing the fuel subsidy issue needed to be expanded to enable more input from concerned Nigerians.
Reacting to the development, Senator Sani in a post on his Twitter page said: “Now that Subsidy will not be removed, please that $800 million borrowed from the World Bank for the purpose should be kept safe, abeg.
“We don’t want to hear that consultants have been paid with half of the money.”
In another post, the former lawmaker suspected that President Muhammadu Buhari back-pedalled from the subsidy removal out of fear of protests and strikes.
“He left it to the Jagaban to deal with the problem,” Sani tweeted.
OsunDaily News recalls that the World Bank approved an $800 million loan for the Nigerian government in early April to cushion the effects of petrol subsidy removal when finally implemented in June 2023.
Addressing state house correspondents on April 5, 2023, shortly after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, said the $800 million in 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, has been secured.
She said: “The secondary question on the exit of fuel subsidy, this is a commitment in the Petroleum Industry Bill. There’s a provision that says that 18 months after the effectiveness of the PIA that all petroleum products must be deregulated, and that 18 months takes us to June 2023.
“Also, when we were working on the 2023 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and the Appropriation Act, we made that provision to enable us to exit fuel subsidies by June 2023. We are of course having different stakeholder engagements; we’ve secured some funding from the World Bank, which is the first tranche of palliatives that will enable us to give cash transfers to the most vulnerable in our society that have now been registered in a national social register.
“Today, that register has a list of 10 million households. 10 million households is equivalent to about 50 million Nigerians.”
According to her, the federal government has also raised more resources to enable it to do more than just the cash transfers and also in its “engagements with the various stakeholders, the various kinds of tasks that we have to go beyond the requirement of just giving cash transfers. Labour, for example, might be looking for mass transit for its members.
