The federal Government has insisted that fuel subsidy has been removed, and it is gone for good. The Nigerian Government stated this slamming former Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, and the Independent Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria, IPMAN, claim that the federal government is continuing paying fuel subsidy in Nigeria. The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, made this known in an interview recently held which was shared by his media aide, Nneamaka Okafor.
The minister said that those alleging that the Government is providing subsidies for the product should provide evidence and facts, otherwise they are all lying.
Lokpobri insisted that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Government’s position on fuel subsidies have remains unchanged.
However, he stated that every Government has a responsibility to cushion the impact of economic hardship on its people in all sectors, not just in the Petroleum industry but from all facet of the economy.
The Minister stressed that fuel subsidy was a sensitive issue to discuss without an authoritative information but noted that the Government had made its position known. In his statement, “I don’t want to delve into that issue. It is a very sensitive issue. We should get all the facts.
“As far as I’m concerned, the President removed the subsidy, and it remains removed till today.
“Anybody saying that subsidy is being paid, it is left for the person to bring the facts, and then we will talk about them.
“It may not be determined by market forces, but let us deal with the price as it is today.
“Every government has a duty to do certain things, not only in the petroleum sector but in several other sectors, to cushion the effect and burden on Nigerians,” he said.
El-Rufai while in Maiduguri last week claimed that Tinubu administration is paying more fuel subsidy that the previous administration.
Similarly, the IPMAN throw its weight behind the band wagon claiming same.
The Public Relations Officer, IPMAN, Chief Ukadike Chinedu, said the pump price of fuel should be around N900 per litre without subsidy.
According to Chinedu, “I have said before that the PMS subsidy has been returned, and the government said it was a lie”.
President Tinubu announced fuel subsidy removal in Nigeria in May last year on the day of his inauguration as the Nigerian president, which saw fuel pump price rise to over N600 per litre from N200.
