By Adedapo Adesanya
The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Mr Wale Edun, says N2 billion has so far been released to each state government from the N5 billion earmarked for palliative to cushion the adverse effect of the removal of fuel subsidy.
He said the major reason why the money was partially released, rather than at once, was to curb inflation that would come with the pumping of the monies to each state.
Mr Edun stated this on Friday during a briefing in Abuja attended by key government officials, including the Chairman of the Presidential Tax Reform Committee, Mr Taiwo Oyedele.
Others at the meeting include the Minister of Budget, Mr Abubakar Bagudu; the Group Managing Director (GMD) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, Mr Mele Kyari as well as the Director General of the Budget Office (DMO), Ms Patience Oniha; and the Senior Assistant to the President on Tax Reforms, Mr Zacch Adedeji.
Recall that in a bid to create a forum for dialogue towards resolving issues surrounding the petrol subsidy removal across the country, the federal government on August 17 announced N5 billion palliative to each of the 36 states to cushion the effect of the removal of petrol subsidy.
It also set up an ad hoc committee to engage with the leadership of labour unions.
This was in addition to the distribution of rice, grains, fertilizer, and other items to these states.
On budget, Mr Bagudu, whose duty is to oversee the ministry, restated the position of President Bola Tinubu that the nation could not continue to service its debts with over 90 per cent of its revenue, adding it would ensure that borrowing was not a priority.
On his part, Mr Kyari noted that the consumption of Petrol Motor Spirit (PMS), or petrol, had dropped from 66.6 million litres to 46 million litres daily.
According to him, Nigeria’s crude oil production has increased to 1.6 million barrels per day. This is still below the set target of 1.8 million barrels per day by the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+).
