Former Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, disclosed that the administration of President Bola Tinubu has reinstated the fuel subsidy, contrary to earlier announcements of its removal.
Speaking to journalists in Maiduguri, Borno State, on Monday, El-Rufai highlighted that the government is now subsidizing fuel more heavily than before.
It would be recalled that during his inauguration on May 29, 2023, President Tinubu declared the end of the fuel subsidy, a decision that led to significant price hikes in fuel and subsequent economic challenges across Nigeria.
Despite this declaration, the situation has seen a reversal, going by El-Rufai’s assertion.
The former Kaduna governor told journalists on Monday that the subsidy is back, explaining the government’s decision as a response to the ineffectiveness of support packages intended to alleviate the initial impact of the subsidy removal.
He pointed out the current discrepancies in fuel pricing as evidence of the subsidy’s return.
“If they want to know whether we are subsidizing or not, they should compare the price of petrol and diesel because petrol should be more expensive than diesel but diesel is priced above a thousand naira while petrol is at N600 per litre.”
“So, we are still subsidizing petrol because the government has realized that the way it implemented the fuel subsidy initially required some adjustments,” he concluded, indicating that many Nigerians might still be unaware of this policy shift.
