The Presidency has refuted claims circulating about provisions for a whopping N5.4 trillion fuel subsidy in 2024, rebuffing allegations made by Abubakar Atiku, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in the 2023 presidential election.
Atiku had accused President Tinubu’s administration of secretly paying trillions of naira for petrol subsidy, suggesting that subsidy payments under Tinubu’s watch could reach N5.4 trillion this year.
In response, the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, clarified in a statement on Thursday that the era of fuel subsidy had indeed ended, reiterating President Tinubu’s declaration made on May 29, 2023.
“The government wants to restate that its position on fuel subsidy has not changed from what President Bola Ahmed Tinubu declared last year. The fuel subsidy regime has ended. There is no N5.4 trillion being provisioned for it in 2024, as being widely speculated and discussed,” the statement read.
Onanuga further emphasized the commitment of the Federal Government to mitigate the effects of the subsidy removal and ease the cost of living pressures on Nigerians.
He highlighted strategies focusing on addressing key factors such as food inflation, particularly impacted by transport costs.
He cited the implementation of the Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) initiative as one measure to displace high costs of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) and Automotive Gas Oil (AGO), further reducing transportation expenses.
The Presidency also clarified the status of two fiscal policy documents currently in circulation, asserting that they were still in the proposal or draft stages and not officially approved by the government.
“We urge the public and the media to disregard the two documents and cease further discussions on them. None is an approved official document of the Federal Government of Nigeria. They are all policy proposals that are still subject to review at the highest level of government,” the statement added.
Quoting Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, the Presidency affirmed that policymaking is an iterative process involving multiple drafts and discussions, assuring the public of transparent reviews and approvals before finalizing any policy document.