The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, has revealed that Nigeria pays $600 million each month on fuel imports.
According to him, the expenditure is partly because neighbouring countries, extending to Central Africa, are benefiting from these fuel imports.
Speaking during an interview on AIT’s ‘Moneyline with Nancy’, which was shared on the station’s YouTube channel on Wednesday, 7 August, 2024, Edun explained that this situation prompted President Bola Tinubu to eliminate the fuel subsidy, as the country lacked precise data on its domestic fuel consumption.
“The fuel subsidy was removed May 29, 2023, by Mr President, and at that time, the poorest of 40 per cent was only getting four per cent of the value, and basically, they were not benefitting at all. So it was going to be just a few.
“Another point that I think is important is that nobody knows the consumption in Nigeria of petroleum. We know we spend $600m to import fuel every month but the issue here is that all the neighbouring countries are benefitting.
“So we are buying not for just for Nigeria, we are buying for countries to the east, almost as far as Central Africa. We are buying for countries to the North and we are buying for countries to the West. And so we have to ask ourselves as Nigerians, how long do we want to do that for and that is the key issue regarding the issue of petroleum pricing.”
Edun further clarified that the N570 billion fund release to state governments was implemented in December 2023.
“This actually refers to a reimbursement that they received from December last year onwards and it was a reimbursement I think under the COVID financing protocol but the point is that the states have received more money. They have received more money. Mr President has charged to ensure food production in the states,” he said.
