More Hardship As FG Removes Fuel Subsidy, June

Effective from June, 2022, Nigerians would have to pay more for premium motor spirit (PMS) as the Federal Government is set to completely remove fuel subsidy.
Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, who said this yesterday, explained that the Federal Government would remove fuel subsidy by 2022 and substitute the subsidy with N5,000-a-month transportation grant to the poorest Nigerians.
Speaking at the launch of the World Bank Nigeria Development Update (NDU), the minister said the grant would be distributed to about 30million to 40million Nigerians who make up the poorest population of the country.
The minister also disclosed that the total number of beneficiaries would depend on the resources available after the removal of the fuel subsidy.
Ahmed said this move is set for June, 2022, but the Federal Government hopes to do this before June – in line with the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).
She said: “The subsidies regime in the oil sector remains unsustainable and economically disingenuous.
“Ahead of the target date of mid-2022 for the complete elimination of fuel subsidies, we are working with our partners on measures to cushion potential negative impact of the removal of the subsidies on the most vulnerable at the bottom 40per cent of the population.
“One of such measures would be to institute a monthly transport subsidy in the form of cash transfer of N5,000 to between 30million – 40million deserving Nigerians.”
In the development update, the World Bank had said the poorest 40per cent in Nigeria consume less than three per cent of the total PMS in the country, meaning that the rich were benefiting more from the subsidies.
“We are very optimistic that the recent developments in the oil sector, such as the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021, hopefully, the full reactivation of the four public refineries in the country, and the completion and coming on stream of the three private refineries under construction in 2022, would significantly boost contribution from the sector to our economic growth efforts,” Ahmed added.
“I agree with the report that with the expansion of social protection policies during the pandemic, the government has an opportunity to phase out subsidies such as the PMS subsidy while utilising cash transfers to safeguard the welfare of poor and middle-class households.”
Also speaking, the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC), Malam Mele Kyari, dropped the hint that a litre of fuel may sell between N320 and N340 in 2022.
Kyari assured that fuel subsidy removal would definitely be achieved in 2022 as it was now fully backed by law.
He said that subsidy would have been eliminated in 2020 but certain factors prevented it.
He, however, said that the law provides that by the end of February, 2022, the nation should be out of the subsidy regime.
“There will be no provision for it legally in our system, but I am also sure you will appreciate that government has a bigger social responsibility to cater for the ordinary and therefore engage in a process that will ensure that we exit in the most subtle and easy manner,” he said.
On the hike in prices of cooking gas, he said that it was a demand and supply issue as there was a global crunch on supply of gas and many countries were now threatened by lack of supply in December.
He added that the product was not under any subsidy regime and therefore irrespective of where it was produced, would follow the global trend.
Kyari, however, assured that the company was working on increasing local production to meet the needs of consumers.
In his remarks, Kaduna State Governor, Nasir el-Rufai declared that if fuel subsidy is not removed, 35 out of the 36 states of the federation won’t be able to salaries of workers in 2022.
Against this backdrop, El-Rufai said governors are ready to support the Federal Government in the elimination of fuel subsidy regime.
El-Rufai, a panellist who joined virtually at the event, said kerosene which matters most to the masses had been regulated without any hitches, while diesel which was most important to transporters had also been regulated for a long time.
“This hullabaloo about petrol is something that we must as a country have a conversation and agree that it has to end.
“We cannot continue to provide petroleum to our neighbouring countries, which is what we are doing.
“Why are we doing this? For whom are we doing it? Who is the beneficiary? Which is the cabal that is the beneficiary of this and why should they hold this country to ransom and bankrupt the Nigerian economy?
“Right now, we are losing N250billion a month and this has to end. State governments are committed to supporting the Federal Government on this.
“We do our bit, engage stakeholders and put the facts on the table so that everyone understands the danger the country is in if the subsidy continues, as well as the benefits that will accrue.
“Not only to the budgets of the states and their capacity to deliver social services, but also what will go directly to the pockets of the poorest Nigerians that will bear the brunt of any withdrawal of subsidy.
“This is the position of the state governments and we met just a few days ago to take this position.”
El-Rufai said that the governors saw the dangers in continuing on the path of petroleum subsidy and support policy measures needed to improve the fiscal situation, such as price stability.
This, he said, was by ensuring that there was alignment of the exchange rate and good coordination between fiscal and monetary policy.
The World Bank Country Director, Mr. Shubham Chaudhuri, said even though Nigeria’s economy exited a pandemic-induced recession, several challenges persist, including double-digit inflation, declining incomes, and rising insecurity.