Special Adviser to the President on Energy, Mrs Olu Arowolo Verheijen has disclosed that government of President Bola Tinubu is still paying for subsidies on petrol.
Mrs Verheijen stated this while addressing journalists over the weekend.
There are claims that, despite announcing the removal of subsidy, the Nigerian government led by Tinubu is still subsidizing the price of premium motor spirit, PMS, otherwise known as fuel.
Verheijen noted the Federal Government has the right to intervene in the price of PMS in the country.
The presidential aide contended that it is the prerogative of all governments to intervene intermittently in critical sectors of the economy to ensure price stability and forestall social chaos.
According to her, no government in the world will allow prices of essential fuel to fluctuate out of control and push up inflation without some form of intervention.
“The subsidy was removed on May 29, 2023. However, the government has a prerogative, whether in the US, in the West, or in Asia, all of them have a prerogative to maintain price stability.
“All governments have the prerogative to maintain price stability and not allow prices to fluctuate. If prices fluctuate, they reserve the right to intervene to avoid social unrest. Even in the US, during the COVID, there were a lot of expressionist groups, and there were also subsidies.
“All governments deserve that right. And so, if the administration determines that due to the hardship in the country, it is not the right time to allow prices to continue to fluctuate and cause inflation, the government has to intervene intermittently, but it does not remove the fact that subsidy was removed.”
On May 29, the Nigerian Government removed fuel subsidies, which saw petrol pump prices rise to between N600-N670 per litre.
Meanwhile, the pump price has been relatively stable since last year, indicating another subsidy intervention.
The International Monetary Fund said Nigeria’s fuel and electricity subsidies in 2024 are estimated to gulp N7 trillion.
