Abuja – The Presidency said on Wednesday that Nigeria will have to pay a price to continue subsidising petrol.
Femi Adesina, Special Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on media and publicity who stated this in Abuja also said that the country may be left with no other option than to continue borrow to finance its fiscal overhead.
Adesina who spoke while featuring on Channels Television’s ” Sunrise Daily” said petrol is not deregulated by the Federal Government, as it sells between N162 and N165 per litre.
He said that the price is far lower than the actual cost of the product.
The Federal Government’s plan to withdraw subsidy on petrol by June this year had met with resistance from the organised labour and Nigerians.
The stiff resistance forced the government to suspend the planned removal and postponed it’s implementation indefinitely.
Consequently, the nationwide protest called by the Nigeria Labour Congress and slated to commence on January 27 had been called off.
However, the decision , to suspend the removal of subsidy may compel the NNPC to deduct over N1 trillion from the federation account over the next six months.
Adesina said the decision by government to postpone fuel subsidy removal was not political.
“It is a valid thing to do. Is this done because of elections next year? No.
“It is done because as the minister (of finance) stated, the timing is not auspicious, inflation is still high.
” In the past eight months, we saw inflation reducing but the last month, it went up again; further consultations need to happen with all the stakeholders… the timing is not right, it will exacerbate the hardship of the people and the President genuinely cares.
“Politics is a part of our lives, but elections will just be one event in the life of the country. When elections come, they go, the country continues. This fuel subsidy, whether it stays or goes, is going to have a serious impact on the economy, ” he said.
Asked about the financial cost of the 18-month extension for subsidy removal, he said “head or tail, Nigeria will have to pay a price; it is either we pay the price for the removal in consonance and in conjunction with the understanding of the people.
“The other cost is that borrowings may continue and things may be difficult fiscally for both the state and the federal government.
” You know how much could have been saved if the subsidy was removed and how it could have been diverted to other spheres of our lives…we have to pay a price.” (vitalnews)
