Subsidy Return Will Reverse Economic Gains – Minister
The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, has cautioned against calls to restore the petrol subsidy.
He said a return to the old regime would undermine Nigeria’s improving fiscal position, weaken investor confidence, and reverse gains from the economic reforms of the President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
The minister stated this in some national dailies, titled Restoring Fuel Subsidy Will Reverse Nigeria’s Economic Gains.
He outlined the fiscal benefits of subsidy removal, the economic risks averted, and the difficult trade-offs that would confront the country should petrol subsidy be reintroduced.
The minister recalled that in 2022, amid declining oil production and weak revenues, Nigeria spent about 10 billion dollars on fuel subsidies, while the World Bank warned that the subsidy was consuming resources that could otherwise have supported education, healthcare, infrastructure and social protection.
