Fuel Subsidy: FG replies El-Rufai, says ‘ex-governor wrong’

The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, has responded to various claims on the alleged return of subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol. 

The minister said those making the claims lack evidence to justify their allegations, stressing that since President Bola Tinubu had declared the end of subsidy on petrol, the situation remains so.

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Ex-governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, on Monday, said the Federal Government had resumed the payment of subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit also called petrol.

“The Federal Government is now subsidising fuel; many people don’t know this. It is the right policy. I have always supported the withdrawal of oil subsidies; but in the course of implementing the policy, the government realised that subsidy has to be back; right now, the government is paying a lot of money for subsidy, even more than before.

“You start implementing a policy because you are sure it is the right policy, but in the course of implementation, you come across bottlenecks, and you modify.

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“The keyword in leadership, in my view, is pragmatism. You should be pragmatic. So when you make a policy, you start implementing it, and it doesn’t seem to work well. You should have the humility to stand back and say this is not working, and you modify it,” the former governor stated.

However, Lokpobiri insisted that petrol subsidy had ceased to exist, and urged those who alleged that the government was still subsidising the commodity to provide facts.

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“I don’t want to delve into that issue. It is a very sensitive issue. It is better we get all the facts. As far as I’m concerned, the President removed the subsidy and it remains removed till today. Anybody who is saying that subsidy is being paid, it is left for the person to bring the facts and then we will talk about them.”

Speaking on whether the price being paid for petrol currently is determined by market forces, the minister replied, “It may not be determined by market forces but let us deal with the price as it is today.

“Every government has a duty to do certain things, not only in the petroleum sector but in several other sectors, to be able to cushion the effect and burden on Nigerians.”