Tinubu govt now spending trillions of naira to subsidise petrol — el-Rufai

• He said under the leadership of President Tinubu, the government has spent about N8 trillion on petrol subsidies since it was sworn in on May 29th, 2023

Immediate past governor Nasiru el-Rufai of Kaduna State has disclosed that, contrary to what the Federal Government wants many to believe, petrol subsidy is still in place.

He said the president Bola Tinubu government has, from day one, been subsidising petrol also known as Premium Motor Spirit, PMS, in trillions of naira.

He said under the leadership of President Tinubu, the government has spent about N8 trillion on petrol subsidies since it was sworn in on May 29th, 2023.

He explained that if not for subsidy payments, the price of a litre of petrol would have been much higher than the diesel that is now sold above N1,000 depending on the location compared to petrol which is between N600 and N750 per litre.

The former governor spoke in Maiduguri while delivering the lead paper at a workshop on Enhancing Skills of Government Officials in Policy Implementation and Productive Human Management Resources for Commissioners, Chief Advisers and Special Advisers, Senior Technical Advisers, to Governor Babagana Zulum, Heads or Chief Executives of Agencies and Departments, Tertiary Institutions and local government chairmen.

El-Rufai while delivering his paper with the theme: ‘Leadership and Public Policy: Navigating Challenges and Lessons’, said: “The Federal Government under the leadership of President Bola Tinubu has from day one been subsidizing petrol, also known as Premium Motor Spirit, PMS. This has so far cost the present administration about N8trillion since inception on May 29th, 2023 to date.”

While speaking with Journalists after his presentation, the former governor said he has always been a proponent of subsidy removal but the policy is not well implemented by the current government.

He said: “The removal of fuel subsidy by the present administration is another good policy by President Tinubu. I have always supported the withdrawal of fuel subsidies. But as you can see, in the course of implementation, the government has now realized that the subsidy has to return. 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 has to backpedal by subsidizing 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.”