Human rights lawyer Femi Falana (SAN) has urged President Bola Tinubu’s government to reconsider its fuel subsidy removal policy, citing reports that the country is still paying for the subsidy.
Falana made the allegations in a signed statement titled “Fuel subsidy again?” which he sent to journalists on Sunday.
He emphasized that the federal government should reconsider the termination of fuel subsidies rather than asking Nigerians to bear the burden indefinitely.
The statement reads, “President Bola Tinubu had on his inauguration declared an end to the subsidy era, triggering a hike in the prices of petroleum across the country.
“But in recent times, the World Bank and the Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Pinnacle Oil and Gas Limited Mr. Robert Dickerman claimed that the Federal Government is still paying subsidy for the product.
“Curiously, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited has not deemed it fit to deny the serious allegation that fuel subsidy has been restored. Since there is no provision for fuel subsidy in the 2023 and 2024 Appropriation Acts the federal government should, without any further delay, confirm or deny the serious allegation and end the opacity surrounding the importation of fuel from foreign countries.
“It would be recalled that after the Muhammadu Buhari administration announced that it had removed subsidy on petrol, it turned around to spend N11 trillion on the so-called “under-recovery” within a period of 8 years.
“Therefore, instead of urging Nigerians to continue to endure the hardship caused by the removal of subsidies on petrol, the Bola Tinubu administration. If the federal government is spending as much as N1 trillion on fuel subsidy per month, it is high time the policy was reviewed in the interest of the Nigerian people.”