The federal government has finally admitted thatbAfrica’s biggest oil-producing country will be spending up to N5.4 trillion on oil subsidies in 2024.
This comes after months of repeated denials by government officials who insisted there were no subsidies.
The revelation came during a presentation by Wala Edun, the minister of finance and coordinating minister of the economy on an Accelerated Stabilisation and Advancement Plan (ASAP), designed to address key challenges affecting the reform initiatives and stimulate development in various sectors of the economy.
“At current rates, expenditure on fuel subsidy is projected to reach ₦5.4 trillion by the end of 2024. This compares unfavourably with ₦3.6 trillion in 2023 and ₦2.0 trillion in 2022,” a draft copy of the ASAP presented by Edun said.
The federal government had previously maintained that it would no longer subsidise fuel costs, instead opting for a deregulation policy.
“As far as I’m concerned, the President removed the subsidy and it remains removed till today. Anybody who is saying that subsidy is being paid, it is left for the person to bring the facts and then we will talk about them,” Heineken Lokpobiri, minister of state for petroleum resources (Oil) said in April.
TheNewsMatrics reports that President Bola Tinubu announced that fuel subsidy was gone assumption of office on 29 May, 2023.
Two weeks later the government floated the naira resulting in a massive devaluation that has eroded any projected gains from subsidy removal as petrol continues to be imported.
