Ex-Kaduna State Governor, Malam Nasir El-Rufai, has revealed the reinstatement of the fuel subsidy, a fact he believes is unknown to many Nigerians.
During a press interaction in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State, El-Rufai stated that the federal government’s expenditure on the subsidy is now higher than before.
He noted that the measures intended to mitigate the effects of the fuel subsidy have proven ineffective, leading to a policy reversal. President Bola Tinubu, in his inaugural address, had declared the discontinuation of the fuel subsidy, arguing that its cost was no longer defensible.
However, El-Rufai, a supporter of the policy, acknowledged that the government had to make necessary modifications. “The fuel subsidy is a policy that the president has implemented, and I have always been in favor of its removal,” he said.
“But as you can see, the government has now understood that the subsidy needs to be reinstated because we are currently spending more on the subsidy than we did before. This is due to the visible impact and the fact that the support measures intended to lessen this impact have not been effective. So, the federal government is now back to subsidizing petrol,” he explained.
El-Rufai pointed out that many people are unaware of the return of the fuel subsidy. He suggested that to ascertain whether there is a subsidy, one should compare the prices of petrol and diesel. Despite diesel being more expensive than petrol, it is priced above a thousand naira while petrol costs N600 per liter.
“We are still subsidizing petrol because the government has realized that the initial implementation of the fuel subsidy required some adjustments. That’s what I always emphasize about policy and policy pragmatism,” he added.
Earlier, El-Rufai had delivered a presentation titled “Leadership and Public Policy: Navigating Challenges and Lessons” at a capacity-building workshop for senior government officials of Borno State.
