FG faults Wold Bank, insists fuel subsidy is gone

The Federal Government has said contrary to claims by the World Bank that the government is still paying subsidy on petrol, that the era of petrol subsidy is “gone for good”.

Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, while speaking in an interview on Channels TV on Thursday morning, said President Bola Tinubu made it clear from his first day in office that his government would not sustain the payment of subsidy on petrol.

The minister said the subsidy removal had translated to increased revenue accruing to the federation account.

The Nation had reported that World Bank’s lead economist for Nigeria, Alex Sienaert had on Wednesday said current fuel prices in Nigeria were not cost-reflective and that the Federal Government might still be paying subsidy on petrol.

He said Nigerians should be paying about N750 per litre as against the current price of N650 in parts of the country.

But speaking on the issue, the minister stressed that government was no longer paying any subsidy on petrol.

He said, “Subsidy is gone, and the President told Nigerians from his first day in office that there won’t be subsidy (on petrol). It is because subsidy has gone that we have so much money available for government to do so many things. Of course, it’s never enough, but fuel subsidy is gone and it’s gone for good.

“There are instances where government needs to come in to see that things don’t go so bad. That’s the responsibility of government. Every rule will also have its self-adjusting mechanism, but I can assure Nigerians that subsidy is gone.

“If you look at the money accruing to the federation account and the kind of money the states are receiving, you would know that everybody desires that subsidy should go. What do we do with that subsidy, I think, is the next question. We need to scrutinise that, so that Nigerians would have the benefit of the subsidy that has been taken away. Subsidy is gone.”