…Surpasses Health, Education, Agric, Defence Cumulative Budgets
The Federal Government yesterday admitted that Nigeria has spent more money on fuel subsidy than the entire budget for health, education, agriculture, and defence in the last five years, and almost the capital expenditure for 10 years.
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha, who made the disclosure yesterday, stated that fuel subsidy pay-outs from 2005-2021, representing a 16-year window, have cost the federal government a whopping N13 trillion on a conservative estimate.
The Government also acknowledged that the cost of subsidy on petrol between year 2005 to 2021 could be more than N13 trillion ($74 billion) if the economic and opportunity costs of the policy are computed in financial terms.
Speaking during the launch of the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), strategic plan 2022-2026, in Abuja, Mustapha, who quoted its policy advisory, noted that the figure in relative terms is equivalent to Nigeria’s entire budget for health, education, agriculture, and defence in the last five years, and almost the capital expenditure for 10 years between 2011-2020.
The NEITI advisory also disclosed that N1.5 trillion in form of royalties and taxes owed the government by firms operating in the extractive industry ecosystem has been recovered, while N1.07 trillion (US$2.67 billion) is still outstanding.
The SGF stated this during his visit to NEITI’s permanent office and the launch of its five-year strategic plan (2022-2026).
According to him, the Presidential Transition Council (PTC), which he currently heads, was already fine-tuning modalities on how best to manage the subsidy removal discomfort, which will determine the best ways to approach the thorny issue.
He said the figure could have been higher if other economic and opportunity costs to the nation were computed and built into the cost.
