Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, has announced the resolve of the federal government to jettison its earlier plan to remove subsidy on petroleum products from July.
Ahmed stated this yesterday at a stakeholders’ meeting held at the National Assembly complex in Abuja. Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, also stated at a different forum yesterday that subsidy paid on the pump price of petrol would remain for now. Sylva revealed that President Muhammadu Buhari was against fuel subsidy removal.
The stakeholders’ gathering was convened at the instance of President of the Senate, Dr. Ahmad Lawan, who appealed to the labour unions to cancel the protests initially planned over the subsidy. However, petroleum products marketers in the country warned that the federal government’s decision to shelve subsidy removal would send the wrong signal to the world and foreign investors.
But the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) commended the federal government for the decision to defer the removal of subsidy, saying ending the policy at this time would cause more hardship to Nigeria.
