A former Minister of Sport and Youths Development, Solomon Dalung on Saturday said the imminent removal of fuel subsidy will aggravate the “already bad economic situation” in Nigeria.
“The proposed withdrawal of fuel subsidy will compound the already bad economic situation in the country,” Dalung wrote on his known Facebook page.
POLITICS NIGERIA recalls that the federal government said in November that it will remove fuel subsidy and replace it with a monthly N5,000 transport grant to poor Nigerians.
According to the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, the transport grant will target about 30 to 40 million Nigerians ‘who make up the poorest population of the country’.
Ahmed said the available resources after the removal of fuel subsidy will determine the number of beneficiaries.
The Nigerian government spends trillions of naira yearly on payment of subsidy on petroleum products. It has repeatedly tried to cut off the payment in favour of market-determined prices. It argues that the huge amount would be used to fund critical projects, a position backed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
But many Nigerians want the government to keep fuel cost low no matter what.
