The federal government has suspended its plan to remove fuel subsidy in June of this year as earlier planned.
The decision to suspend the action was taken at the National Economic Council meeting held on Thursday in Abuja and chaired by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.
The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, made the decision known on Thursday while speaking with State House correspondents shortly after the meeting.
According to her, the council decided that the time for the removal of fuel subsidy as planned was no longer appropriate.
Her words: “Council agreed that the timing of the removal of fuel subsidy should not be now. But that we should continue with all of the preparatory works that need to be done and that this preparatory has to be done in consultation with the states and other key stakeholders including representatives of the incoming administration.
“Council agreed that the fuel subsidy must be removed earlier rather than later because it is not sustainable. We cannot afford it anymore. But we have to do it in such a way that the impact of the subsidy is as much as possible, mitigated on the lives of ordinary Nigerians.
“So, this will require looking at alternatives to the fuel subsidy that needs to be planned for and subsequently put in place. But also what needs to be done to support the people that will be most affected as a result of the removal.”
She added: “We have a plan that we will start working on, putting the building blocks towards the eventual removal of the first subsidy.
“And if I may remind this forum that the budget for 2023 has a provision for fuel subsidy only up to June 2023 and also the Petroleum Industry Act has a provision that requires that all petroleum products must be deregulated 18 months after the effective date of the PMS removal and that that period is also up to June 2020.”
