We are on course on subsidy removal – Federal Govt opens up
The federal government on Friday, March 8, said it is on course on fuel subsidy removal.
It also said that it is working assiduously to ensure the price stability of fuel in the overall interest of Nigeria.
The International Monetary Fund had alleged that the government still maintains subsidies on fuel pump prices and electricity tariffs despite President Bola Tinubu announcing the removal of subsidy.
The special adviser to the president on energy, Olu Verheijen, who spoke at the ministerial press briefing in Abuja, said it is the prerogative of the government to maintain price stability.
She argued that the developed countries including the United States do the same to prevent volatility in the economy.
She therefore said government intervention to stabilise prices does not remove the fact that subsidy has been removed.
She said: “The question of subsidy, the subsidy was removed on May 29, 2023. However, the government has the prerogative whether the US, in the West and other Eastern countries, all governments have the prerogative to maintain price stability and prevent social unrest.
“So if prices are moving, they reserve the right to intervene. It started in the US during COVID. There were a lot of expansionist moves but also subsidies.
“All governments deserve that right. And so if for whatever reason the administration has reviewed that it is not the right time to have prices continue to fluctuate given the level of hardship in the country, given inflation, the government has the right to intervene intermittently.
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