NEC suspends fuel subsidy removal 

By Business A.M. 

The National Economic Council (NEC) has suspended the anticipated removal of subsidy on petroleum products in Nigeria by the end of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.

Zainab Ahmed, minister of finance, budget , and national planning, made this known while briefing State House correspondents at the end of the NEC meeting presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

The finance minister disclosed that the council concluded in its meeting that the June 2023 date previously fixed for the subsidy removal is not a favourable time for the action as it is a period the new administration would be trying to settle down to governance.

According to Zainab, the subsidy cannot be removed for now. She,however, noted that discussions on the matter and the necessary preparatory work in conjunction with states and representatives of the incoming administration will not be stopped.

This, she had stated, was in line with the 18-month extension announced early 2022.

“The Council deliberated on the matter and resolved that it cannot be removed for now, but it equally agreed on the need to continue the discussion on the matter and the necessary preparatory work in conjunction with states and representatives of the incoming administration,” she said.