The Presidency on Wednesday said Nigeria will have to pay a price for not removing the petrol subsidy now.
It said for the government to continue subsidizing Premium Motor Spirit, it may be left with no other option than to continue borrowing to shoulder its fiscal burden.
This was revealed by presidential spokesperson Femi Adesina during a Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily programme monitored in Abuja.
On Tuesday, the federal government announced that it has postponed the implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act (of which subsidy removal is an integral part of) by 18 months, which is after the expiration of President Buhari’s second and last tenure.
Adesina, however, said the postponement was not occasioned by political considerations. He said, “It is a valid thing (to do), but is this done because of elections next year? No.”
“It is done because as the minister (of finance) stated, the timing is not auspicious, inflation is still high. In the past eight months, we saw inflation reducing but last month, it went up again; further consultations need to happen with all the stakeholders… the timing is not right, it will exacerbate the hardship of the people and the President genuinely cares,” Adesina added.
“Politics is a part of our lives, but elections will just be one event in the life of the country. When elections come, they go, the country continues. This fuel subsidy, whether it stays or goes, is going to have a serious impact on the economy.”
Talking about the cost implication of the 18-month extension for subsidy removal, Adesina said, “Head or tail, Nigeria will have to pay a price; it is either we pay the price for the removal in consonance and in conjunction with the understanding of the people. The other cost is that borrowings may continue and things may be difficult fiscally for both the state and the federal government. You know how much could have been saved if the subsidy was removed and how it could have been diverted to other spheres of our lives…we have to pay a price.”
