Human rights lawyer Femi Falana (SAN) is urging the Federal Government to reassess the fuel subsidy removal policy due to assertions that Nigeria is still bearing its costs.
Upon his inauguration, President Bola Tinubu announced the cessation of the subsidy era, leading to an increase in petroleum prices nationwide. However, recent assertions by the World Bank and Robert Dickerman, the Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Pinnacle Oil and Gas Limited, suggest that the Federal Government is still subsidizing the product.
Referring to these claims, Falana issued a statement on Sunday urging the government to address them and reconsider the policy.
“Curiously, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited has not deemed it fit to deny the serious allegation that fuel subsidy has been restored. Since there is no provision for fuel subsidy in the 2023 and 2024 Appropriation Acts the federal government should, without any further delay, confirm or deny the serious allegation and end the opacity surrounding the importation of fuel from foreign countries,” Falana said.
“It would be recalled that after the Muhammadu Buhari administration announced that it had removed subsidy on petrol, it turned around to spend N11 trillion on the so-called “under-recovery” within a period of 8 years.
“Therefore, instead of urging Nigerians to continue to endure the hardship caused by the removal of subsidies on petrol, the Bola Tinubu administration. If the federal government is spending as much as N1 trillion on fuel subsidy per month, it is high time the policy was reviewed in the interest of the Nigerian people.”