The Minister of State for Petroleum, Timipre Sylva, has announced that once President Muhammadu Buhari assents the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), petrol subsidy will end in Nigeria.
Sylva announced this on Monday while speaking at the Nigeria/Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries: 50 Years of Partnership press conference in Abuja.
According to him, it was best for Nigeria that the Federal Government discontinued subsidy on petrol, stressing that the recently passed PIB had no provision for subsidy.
He said, “This (subsidy removal) is desirable for the interest and growth of Nigeria. Of course, everybody will have their perspectives, but from where I sit, I believe that subsidy removal is the best thing for Nigeria, not just the industry.
“So far, the discussions with stakeholders are still ongoing. But I will also bring it to your attention that today, when the President assents to the PIB, subsidy will become a matter of law, because it is already in the PIB that petroleum products will be sold at market determined prices.”
Sylva added that “The removal of subsidy has the potential of unlocking a lot more funds for deployment to development. Unfortunately, what we are doing by way of subsidy is like cutting our nose to spite our face.”
The petroleum minister further noted that the government would soon begin the rehabilitation of the Warri and Kaduna refineries in order to increase domestic refining of petrol and to cushion the impact of subsidy removal.
