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From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
President Muhammadu Buhari has not directed anyone in his administration to remove petroleum subsidy from the Federal Government budget, Senate President, Ahmad Lawan has said.
He stated this after a meeting with the president, yesterday, where he said he went to convey the feelings of Nigerians to him on some concerns, including the proposed removal of fuel subsidy.
Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, had announced last October that the Federal Government has made provision for petrol subsidy only for the first six months of 2022 as it prepares for the complete deregulation of the oil sector.
“In our 2022 budget, we only factored in subsidy for the first half of the year. The second half of the year, we are looking at complete deregulation of the sector, saving foreign exchange and potentially earning more from the oil and gas industry,” Ahmed said.
But Lawan said lawmakers were worried about the agitations and protests around the country on the policy, necessitating his meeting with the president.
“Many of us are very concerned with the recent agitations and protests. Many citizens were so concerned, our constituents across the country are very concerned that the Federal Government will remove petroleum subsidy. And for us as parliamentarians, as legislators representing the people of Nigeria, this must be of interest to us.
“And we’ve just finished our recess, we had gone home to our constituencies and senatorial districts. And we felt the pulse of our people. I found it necessary to visit Mr. President to discuss this particular issue of concern to Nigerians. I am happy to inform Nigerians that Mr. President never told anyone that the petroleum subsidy should be removed. I know and I agree that the subsidy is very heavy. But I think we must never transfer the burden to citizens.”
He also doubted that Nigerians consume 100million litres daily saying “I am not convinced that within the boundaries of Nigeria, we are consuming 100 million litres.”
“A 100-million-litre of petrol every day in Nigeria, I can tell you is not correct. I don’t believe in that. If it is not so, what do we need to do? We have to sit down and deal with this so that we find a solution as a government, not to push it to the people.”
Lawan commended President Buhari for keeping his philosophy of ensuring that the most ordinary Nigerian does not suffer in any way.
“Government is meant to serve the people. And the essence of governance, we all know, is to protect lives and property and welfare of the people.”
When reminded that the subsidy regime was not captured in the 2022 budget and if Nigerians should expect supplementary budget, the Senate president said: “No I will not speculate, but what I’m telling you is, it is a burden quite all right. And we have to work as an administration, we need to work hard to find a solution to it. We shouldn’t push this burden to the ordinary man.”
