Saraki Faults Subsidy Regime, Says Nigeria Does Not Consume Up to 70 Million Litres of Petrol Daily
- Ex-Senate President and Kwara State governor, Bukola Saraki has faulted federal government claim of 70 million litres of petrol consumption per day
- He said that the country may not be consuming above 35 million litres of petrol per day and said budget above that is a scam
- Saraki noted Nigeria may be subsidizing for other African countries as a few people may be benefiting from the scheme in the country
Erstwhile Senate President, Bukola Saraki has questioned the Nigerian government’s plan to fund a petrol subsidy based on 70 million litres of petrol consumption per day.
Saraki said Nigeria’s actual consumption cannot exceed 35 million litres per day of petrol. He alleged that Nigeria may be subsidizing petrol for neighbouring African countries, Nairametrics report says.
Source: Getty Images
The ex-Kwara state governor said this during an interview with Channels Television on Sunday, March 13, 2022.
What Saraki is saying?
Saraki said he acknowledges the sufferings of Nigerians who go through a lot queuing at petrol stations because of fuel scarcity.
PAY ATTENTION: Subscribe to Digital Talk newsletter to receive must-know business stories and succeed BIG!
According to him, in 2011, the Nigerian government said that the country was consuming between 30 to 35 million litres of petrol every day.
Nigerians complained that 35 million litres every day was too much and recommended ways to reduce consumption, adding that the then Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo Iweala took steps that reduced subsidy to N$500 million, Saraki said.
The Kwara state politician said that the claim by the Nigerian government of spending about N3 trillion is fishy.
He warned that Nigeria should make sure it is not subsidising petrol for other neighbouring countries in Africa.
Saraki said:
“It is not possible for us to consume that amount and for us( Nigeria) to be helpless and say it’s being smuggled to West African nations, we can’t do that, we must look at what Nigerians are going through.”
According to him, as Senate President in 2016, they were able to curtail the subsidy spending under the then Minister of State for Petroleum, Ibe Kachikwu
The rumoured presidential hopeful said that the country may be spending more than N6 trillion in subsidy because a few people may be benefitting from the subsidy, saying Nigeria cannot wait until 2023 to solve the problem.
Again FG addresses fuel subsidy issue, its removal, next move
Legit.ng reported that the Nigerian government has said that it will soon remove the controversial fuel subsidy, Daily Trust reports.
The minister of finance, budget and national planning, Zainab Ahmed, said that the federal government had quietly and successfully removed electricity subsidy and would do the same with fuel.
Speaking at a meeting of African Finance Ministers and the International Monetary Fund, Ahmed said subsidy was only factored in the first half of the year in the 2022 budget.
Source: Legit.ng
