…As Osinbajo meets State Govs., launches Covid-19 stimulus programme
The National Economic Council, (NEC), yesterday said that decision on the removal of the subsidy on petroleum will be made in June when the provision for its payment in the 2022 budget expires.
NEC said though conservation on subsidy removal has been going on it was yet to take a position on it.
The council, chaired by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo met at the Conference Hall, Presidential Villa, Abuja yesterday, with the declaration that since the Nigerian National Petroleum Company, (NNPC), Limited has become a limited liability company, it must be run differently.
Osinbajo serves as the NEC chairman, while the 36 state governors are members, including the FCT Minister, Mohammed Bello; Minister of Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, among other key agencies of government.
Fielding questions while briefing State House correspondents on the outcome of the meeting, the governor of Nasarawa State, Abdullahi Sule said it was understandable that the provision for the payment of the subsidy is made in the 2022 budget only until June.
Governor Sule, flanked by his Edo State counterpart, Godwin Obaseki, stated that any decision on the removal of subsidy will be taken after the budget provision runs its course in June.
Also speaking while responding to questions, Governor Obaseki pointed out that Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), which sells for N162-165 per litre in Nigeria, sells a hundred percent higher in other countries, noting that the federal government was spending about N2 trillion on petroleum subsidy, an amount, he said could have been used for other purposes.
According to him, the NEC, therefore, wondered whether that should be allowed to continue in a situation where he observed only two-thirds of the States of the federation consume the subsidy.
It was reliably gathered that most of the State governors who are members of NEC are not favourably disposed to the situation where deductions are made from their federal allocations, which goes into subsidising fuel products for the populace.
Before the meeting kicked off, Prof. Osinbajo launched the Nigeria Covid-19 Action Recovery and Economic Stimulus (NG-CARES) programme, which is being funded under a World Bank N750million loan.
