Nigerian govt bows to pressure, abandons planned fuel subsidy removal

The Nigerian government has announced that it has suspended the plan to remove the fuel subsidy by the end of the first of 2022, following pressure from labour unions. 

Ms Zainab Ahmed, Minister for Finance and National Planning, disclosed this on Monday in a meeting with the president of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, in the National Assembly, according to The Guardian.

Ms Ahmed said that the removal of the subsidy at any time this year could worsen inflationary trends in the country.

She said: “We discovered that practically, there is still high inflation and that the elimination of the subsidy would make the situation even worse and impose more difficulties on the citizenry.

“Messrs. The president does not want to do that. What we are doing now is continuing the ongoing discussions and consultations in terms of implementing a series of measures.

“One of these includes the deployment of the refining capacities of existing and new refineries, which would reduce the number of products that would be imported into the country.

“Therefore, we must go back to the National Assembly to now amend the budget and make additional provision for the subsidy from July 22 to whatever period we agree is suitable for the start of total removal.”