Nigeria’s approach to fuel subsidy removal without disrupting consumers’ livelihoods –Official

*Amb. Gabriel Aduda, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum Resources, informs reporters in Abuja, that the Federal Government is closely looking at ‘how best to achieve subsidy removal without disrupting the entire ecosystem of livelihoods’ of Nigerian consumers

Isola Moses | ConsumerConnect

As Nigeria plans to remove the controversial fuel subsidy on petroleum products by June 2023, the Federal Government has disclosed it is considering how best to achieve subsidy removal without disrupting livelihoods of millions of consumers.

ConsumerConnect reports Amb. Gabriel Aduda, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum Resources, stated this Thursday, April 20 at a media briefing after the Nigeria International Energy Summit (NIES 2023) in Abuja, FCT.

Amb. Aduda noted the Federal Government is committed to subsidy removal, but could not be too specific until all indices are considered in order to ensure the effect of the move would not be harsh on the average Nigerian consumers.

President Muhammadu Buhari, represented by Mr. Boss Mustapha, Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), has declared open the NIES 2023, which held between April 16 and April 20 this year.

The sixth edition of NIES had as its theme, “Global Perspectives for a Sustainable Energy Future”.

Aduda affirmed though ending the subsidy regime had been in focus for sometime, President Buhari, who is also the  Minister for Petroleum Resources, is taking it very seriously, including everyone in the industry.

The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry stated: “We totally understand the importance of removal of subsidy, but we also understand the greater importance of the citizens in the scheme of things.

“As we speak we are still taking a very close look at how best to achieve subsidy without disrupting the entire ecosystem of livelihoods in Nigeria.”

He further assured “that is our responsibility as government.

“We have to ensure that the buffers are in place and Forex is made available for imports.

“We have to ensure that supply is available for a minimum of six months to make disruption minimal.”

There are quite a number of factors to look at but the government is committed to it, said he.

The Permanent Secretary said in order to match words with action, the 2024 NIES would begin with a session on the fallouts of suggestions made in 2023 as agreed in the communique.

Amb. Aduda disclosed the items achieved between 2022 and 2023 would be listed, which would include rules and regulation by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) and Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA).

He also noted the recommendations of the NEIS would form part of policy implementation in the petroleum industry in the West African country.