Senator Shehu Sani, a former legislator from Kaduna Central, has urged the federal government to save the $800 million loan it previously obtained from the World Bank to lessen the impact of the proposed elimination of fuel subsidies.
The Nigerian government has been adamant that it will end the subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) in order to increase its revenue for months.
It was intended to start eliminating gasoline subsidies in June 2023. On Thursday, April 27, the government, however, declared that the plan had been suspended.
The Minister of Finance, Budget, and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, commented on the situation shortly after the National Executive Council (NEC) meeting yesterday, which is made up of State Governors. She said that after much discussion on the subject, it was decided that it would not be wise to remove subsidies as soon as the new administration is attempting to settle down to governance.
Yemi Osinbajo, the vice president, is believed by Naija News to have presided over the NEC meeting yesterday.
In her statement from yesterday, Ahmed also mentioned the need to extend the committee currently debating the fuel subsidy problem in order to accommodate more input from concerned Nigerians.
Senator Sani commented on the development in a tweet, writing: "Now that Subsidy will not be removed, pls 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.”
The former lawmaker speculated in another tweet that President Muhammadu Buhari had reconsidered the subsidy removal due to his concern over strikes and protests.
“He left it to the Jagaban to deal with the problem,” Sani tweeted.
In early April, the World Bank approved a $800 million loan for the Nigerian government to help mitigate the consequences of the eventual elimination of the fuel subsidy, which is scheduled to take effect in June 2023.
On April 5, 2023, the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, spoke to state house reporters shortly after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting, which was held at the Presidential Villa in Abuja under the direction of President Muhammadu Buhari. She said the $800 million in the first tranche of palliatives, which will be distributed through cash transfers to about 50 million Nigerians who fall into 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.”
