The federal government says bringing back fuel subsidy that has already been removed may spell doom for the country, adding that Nigeria’s revenue has drastically fallen by not less than 65 per cent.
Mrs Zainab Ahmed, the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, reiterated the government’s position on Monday when she appeared on Nigerian Television Authority’s programme: “Good Morning Nigeria.”
Ahmed maintained that the fall in the revenue compelled President Buhari to take a decision of discontinuing the payment of petrol subsidy.
“What we have been doing is not sustainable. If we bring back fuel subsidies, we will fail because we will not be able to pay it and the problem of disputes with marketers will come back, then we will have queues again. We just cannot afford it and therefore this deregulation must be made to work,” the minister said.
The top government official said Nigeria is currently facing difficult times like many other countries around the world, insisting that even if the price of crude oil bounces back to how it was in previous years, subsidy would not be re-introduced.
She explained that the price of petrol would henceforth be determined by the price of crude oil.
The minister added, “We appeal to Nigerians to understand that in the past when subsidy was done, we could afford to do it but right now, we cannot pay. Remember that right now our revenue has gone down by about 65 per cent. So, it is not business as usual. We cannot do what we used to do anymore.”
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