Immediate-past governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, on Monday, has alleged that the Federal Government is still secretly expending lots of funds on subsidy of the premium motor spirit (PMS), popularly known as petrol.
The former governor who was nominated as a Minister by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, but wasn’t cleared by the Senate said the subsidy regime is back in a bigger measure without the awareness of Nigerians.
El-Rufai made this known while speaking with journalists in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital.El-Rufai said although he supported the subsidy removal policy, he, however, criticized its implementation.
“Fuel subsidy is another policy that has been implemented by the president, it’s the right policy. I always supported withdrawing fuel subsidy,” he said.
He added that measures put in place by the Federal Government as packages to reduce the impact of fuel subsidy removal were ineffective, hence the reversal to the subsidy regime.
“But, in the course of implementation as you can see, the government has now realized that the subsidy has to be back because right now, we are paying a lot of money for a subsidy even more than before,” the former governor said.
It would be recalled that Tinubu had on May 29, 2023, during his inaugural speech removed the fuel subsidy in his first major economic policy pronouncement that has been blamed for the current economic situation in the country.
However, despite the announcement, some analysts have continued to express concern over the current price stagnation despite the fluctuation of the naira-dollar exchange rate and international crude price crossing $95 a barrel suggesting a return of subsidy.
