The federal government has said it will spend about N450 billion next year on fuel subsidy.
This is despite the commitment by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to rehabilitate the country’s four refineries to stop importation of petroleum products.
A former NNPC chief and ex-petroleum minister, Ibe Kachikwu, had also pledged that Nigeria would end petrol importation by 2019. Mr Kachikwu was one of the ministers not reappointed by President Muhammadu Buhari when he named his new cabinet after his reelection.
The Minister for Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, announced the subsidy amount in Abuja at the public presentation of the 2020 budget details.
She said a provision of N450 billion has been made for ‘under-recovery’ of cost in respect of the importation of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), popularly called petrol.
“A provision has been made in the budget for under-recovery for PMS (premium motor spirit) in the sum of N450 billion provided in the fiscal framework. It is under-recovery because it is a cost operation for the NNPC,” Mr Ahmed said.
The minister answered a question by the President of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Mansur Ahmed, who wanted to know if the government has removed fuel subsidy from the budget.
