Tinubu Is Paying More Money On Petrol Subsidy Than Before – El-Rufai

Former governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai claims that President Bola Tinubu Is paying  more money to petrol subsidy than before.

KanyiDaily recalls that during his inauguration speech on May 29, 2023, President Tinubu declared the end of petrol subsidy.

El-Rufai, speaking to journalists after presenting the lead paper at a capacity-building workshop in Maiduguri on Monday, revealed that the current government has indeed reinstated petrol subsidy.

He alleged that over N8 trillion have been spent by Bola’s administration to subsidise the pump price of petrol.

The ex-minister insisted that the price of petrol, which is sold for between N600 to N700, should have been higher than diesel rate, presently sold at over N1,000, if not for the subsidy that the current administration is paying.

He said: “Asiwaju (President Bola Tinubu) announced the withdrawal of fuel subsidy on May 29 , but believe it or not , fuel subsidy is back , we’re spending more now, several trillions on subsidy than before May 29.

 “For example, if you appoint a person to a position and he is not performing to expectations, you should have the humility to say look, I need a better person to do the job perfectly.

“Leadership is a continuous thing and in a term of four years, you can’t assess a government of nine months.

“But as I also said earlier during my presentation, the removal of fuel subsidy by the present administration is another good policy by President Tinubu. I have always supported withdrawal of fuel subsidy.

“But as you can see, in the course of implementation, the government has now realised that the subsidy has to be back, because right now, we are paying a lot of money amounting to trillions of naira for subsidy even more than before.

“This is because the impact has been seen and the packages of support that will reduce the impact have not been effective in reducing the impact. So, the federal government had to backpedal by subsidising petrol.

“Many people don’t know this. If they want to know whether there is fuel subsidy or not, they should compare the prices of petrol and diesel per litre. This is because under normal circumstances, petrol is supposed to be more expensive than diesel.

“As it is, diesel is above N1,000, while petrol stands at about N600 per litre. So we are still subsidising fuel in Nigeria,” he argued

El-Rufai added that while he had always supported the withdrawal of fuel subsidy, the government is paying more than when it took over the reins of government.

The former Kaduna governor however stated that no policy is cast in stone, stressing that the present administration has done the right thing by making the necessary adjustment on fuel subsidy.

KanyiDaily recalls that the Federal Government had offered reassurance that the removal of fuel subsidy, which has caused discomfort for many Nigerians, will be a temporary hardship.