IMF Confirms Tinubu Has Returned Subsidy on Fuel
The International Monetary Fund has said that the reintroduction of subsidy on fuel would scrape at least a half of the revenue on crude oil of the country this year. The world money lender has confirmed that President Bola Tinubu has returned subsidy on fuel.
During his inauguration on 29 May, 2023, the president announced that he had removed subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), which helps to drive the economy of the country due to the unavailability of stable power supply.
In a report on Thursday, the IMF explained that the reintroduction of subsidy on petroleum would cost Nigeria a whooping sum of 8.43 trillion naira ($5.9 billion) of its projected 17.7 trillion naira of oil revenue.
The lender said, “Fuel subsidies were reformed in June 2023, however, adequate compensatory measures for the poor were not scaled up in a timely manner and subsequently paused over corruption concerns.”
Bola Tinubu has consistently followed the instructions of the IMF even at the detriment of the people of the country, whose businesses have collapsed and whose standard of living has drastically reduced since the former Lagos State Governor took over power from Muhammadu Buhari.
While the subsidy was removed on May 29, 2023, “all governments have the prerogative to maintain price stability and prevent social unrest,” Olu Verheijen, a senior energy aide to Tinubu told a news conference in Abuja in March. “If prices are moving, they reserve the right to intervene.”
Inflation has more than tripled. Yet the Tinubu’s administration wants to follow another piece of unsolicited advice of the IMF to remove subsidy on electricity. The minister of power Adebayo Adelabu has said that the federal government doesn’t have money to fund subsidy. The NERC has, in fact, increased the electricity tarrif though for consumers on Band A alone.
Tinubu defended his decision to remove subsidy on the ground that he wanted to curb corruption. However, he’s cutting the nose to spite the face.
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