The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Ambassador Gabriel Tanimu Aduda, on Thursday, revealed that the Federal Government is committed to fuel subsidy removal but cannot be specific on the date until all indices are considered to ensure that the move would not be too hard on the average Nigerian.
Ambassador Aduda during a press conference organised to mark the end of the 2023 Nigeria International Energy Summit (NIES 2023), said that government is currently working to ensure that forex is made available for those that would do import as a result of subsidy removal, adding that efforts are also being made to ensure that supplies are available for a minimum of six months ahead to ensure that disruptions will be minimal.
“Subsidy removal is one that had been with us for a long time. And I want to tell you that my minister is taking it very seriously and all of us in the industry because we totally understand the importance of removal of subsidy. But we also understand the greater importance of the citizens in the scheme of things. And as we speak we are still taking a very close look at how best we can achieve subsidy without disrupting the entire ecosystem of livelihood in Nigeria because that is our responsibility as government.
“We have to ensure that buffers are in place. We have to ensure that forex is made available for those that would do import going forward from there. There is quite a lot we need to put in place and we have to ensure that supplies are available for a minimum of six months ahead to ensure that when we do that, the disruptions will be minimal. There are quite a number of factors that we need to look at but yes, government is committed to removal but we cannot be too specific until we are sure that every indices have been considered to ensure that the effect is not too hard on the average Nigerian”, he said.
READ MORE: Subsidy Removal Is Best Economic Decision To Reduce Nigeria’s Debt – LCCI
Aduda said the NOGOF2023 event provided players in the oil and gas industry a platform to speak their mind, and make on the spot assessment of where the industry in Nigeria is currently.
He said: “There are few bottlenecks that have been identified, especially issues of double taxation that we need to look at, we need to lessen the time it takes for licensing rounds. We had cause again on the need for removal of subsidy which government is looking very critically at, at this point. So quite a number of recommendations and suggestions have been made over these number of days. And to show you that government is listening we are totally taking notes. And we will brief our principal aright. And, of course, I want to assure us all, that my Minister, President Muhammadu Buhari, who also doubles as the Minister of Petroleum, may not be here in person, but trust me, he is here in spirit because he will be properly briefed”.
The Permanent Secretary said the decarbonization was a major topic for discussion at the three day event, stressing that Nigeria has been able to achieve close to 40% reduction in emission.
