According to the All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council, the incoming administration of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu will eliminate fuel subsidies in accordance with President Muhammadu Buhari’s plan.
However, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has vowed to oppose the plan to remove the subsidy, arguing that the refineries must be operational before the subsidy can be changed.
Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited recently revealed that the country spends more than N400 billion per month on petroleum subsidies, which it claims is largely unsustainable.
Festus Keyamo, Minister of State for Labour and Employment, told The PUNCH that the president-elect will decide when the fuel subsidy will be phased out.
The Tinubu-Shettima campaign’s Chief Spokesperson, Keyamo, warned that the former Lagos governor should be left alone to choose the date of his execution.
He stated;
It is one of the policies by which we campaigned. I cannot sit here and tell you when exactly it will be done. But the removal of subsidies is something that the president-elect pledged to do. Not only him. Virtually all the leading presidential candidates took the same position.
Why the FG targeted June (to end subsidy) was that the budget only provided for subsidy up to June. That was the reason. But the new government will decide when it wants to. Of course, you know that when a new government takes over, the country is at its beck and call. Yes, I agree that government is a continuum. But all policies are not a continuum.
Keyami, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, revealed that Tinubu’s administration would carry out plans to cushion the impact of removing the subsidy.
He stated;
I can assure you that the president-elect being who he is, will not do that without corresponding palliative (measures) to the masses. I can tell you that confidently.