The Federal Government, through the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, has suspended the planned petrol subsidy removal.
Speaking during a meeting held at the National Assembly in Abuja on Monday, the Minister said the suspension is till further notice.
Several media reports have it that the Minister of State for Petroleum, Timipre Sylva, said the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), is not in support of the removal of subsidy from Premium Motor Spirit, popularly known as petrol.
Sylva said this when he appeared on Channels Television’s Newsnight programme.
“I will tell you categorically that at this moment, the complete removal of subsidy is not on our plate at all,” said Sylva.
“The President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is not in support of removing subsidy at this time,” he added.
The Minister stated that part of the reason why the Federal Government is not thinking about removing fuel subsidy is because of the impact it will have on Nigerians.
He said, “Of course, we all know that it is a desirable policy direction. Of course, we know that it will have some impacts on the people and that is why we are trying to work out some of those things.
“Until those details are worked out properly with (the organised) labour, and with all the stakeholders in the sector, we will not remove the subsidy. At this moment, it is not on our plate, I can tell you that.
“This is something that needs to be worked out between the Federal Government and the states because this is a federation issue. We are working with the governors to see how we can continue with this policy direction of subsidising fuel for the foreseeable future.”
