No Provision for N5.4trn Fuel Subsidy In 2024, Presidency Replies Atiku
In a robust response to claims circulating widely, the Presidency has firmly denied allegations that it is planning to allocate N5.4 trillion for fuel subsidies in 2024. This rebuttal comes in the wake of assertions by Abubakar Atiku, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in the 2023 presidential election, who accused President Tinubu of deceiving Nigerians about the administration’s stance on petrol subsidies.
Atiku had alleged that despite public declarations of subsidy removal, the government was covertly continuing to pay enormous sums, potentially reaching N5.4 trillion this year.
A statement signed by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, on Thursday, reiterated that the era of fuel subsidy had ended restating that its position on fuel subsidy has not changed from what President Bola Ahmed Tinubu declared on 29 May 2023.
It said the Federal Government is committed to mitigating the effects of the removal and easing the cost-of-living pressures on Nigerians.
The Presidency also gave its perspective on two fiscal policy documents currently doing the rounds.
It said that although one of the documents titled, Inflation Reduction and Price Stability (Fiscal Policy Measure etc) Order 2024, was being shared as if it were an executive order signed by President Bola Tinubu, it was still at the proposal stage.
He added that the other document, a 65-page draft document with the title “Accelerated Stabilisation and Advancement Plan (ASAP), containing suggestions on how to improve the Nigerian economy, is still in the draft stage, and was just received by President Tinubu on Tuesday.
