TheCable

The federal government says it is considering how best to achieve petrol subsidy removal without disrupting livelihoods in Nigeria

Gabriel Aduda, permanent secretary at the ministry of petroleum resources, spoke to journalists on Thursday at the end of the 2023 Nigeria international energy summit (NIES).

Budgeting N3.35 trillion for the first half of 2023, the federal government had said it would end under-recovery payments by June.

The government also said it would disburse the sum of $800 million secured from the World Bank, to poor Nigerians as part of its plans to mitigate the effects of subsidy removal on the most vulnerable population in the country.

Speaking on the planned petrol subsidy removal, Aduda said the federal government was committed to halting the payments, but needs to ensure that all indices are evaluated so that the impact would not be harsh on ordinary Nigerians.

He said although petrol subsidy removal had been in focus for sometime, industry stakeholders, as well as President Muhammadu Buhari, who doubles as the minister of petroleum resources, were taking it very seriously.

“We totally understand the importance of removal of subsidy but we also understand the greater importance of the citizens,” the permanent secretary said.

“As we speak we are still taking a very close look at how best to achieve subsidy [removal] without disrupting the entire ecosystem of livelihood in Nigeria.

“Because that is our responsibility as government, we have to ensure that the buffers are in place and forex is made available for imports.

“We have to ensure that supply is available for a minimum of six months to make disruption minimal.”

Aduda also said there were other issues to consider, but the administration was dedicated to surmounting them.