The Nigerian Government has dismissed the possibility of reinstating fuel subsidies despite ongoing protests over rising living costs.
Finance Minister Wale Edun made this clear during an interview with AIT on Tuesday. He stated that the 2024 national budget does not include any allocation for fuel subsidies.
Edun emphasized that economic indicators suggest the country is moving in the right direction and stressed the importance of maintaining these positive trends.
“There is no fuel subsidy in the budget. That is the factual position. We are seeing signs that our economic direction is correct, and we must continue on this path,” he said.
This stance follows President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s recent address in which he acknowledged the difficult decision to remove the fuel subsidy but defended it as necessary.
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, however, claimed in an interview with the Financial Times that inflation had effectively led to the return of the subsidy. President Tinubu had abolished the subsidy in June 2023, leading to a rise in fuel prices from N238 to over N600 per liter.
