President Muhammadu Buhari has not directed anyone to implement fuel subsidy removal, President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, has declared.
Lawan spoke to State House Correspondents on Tuesday after meeting Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Recall that the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, had in October last year, said the Federal Government made provision for subsidy only for the first six months of this year and looked towards complete deregulation of the sector.
She had said: “In our 2022 budget, we only factored in subsidy for the first half of the year; the second half of the year, we are looking at complete deregulation of the sector, saving foreign exchange and potentially earning more from the oil and gas industry.”
But Lawan said he had gone to convey the feeling of his constituents to President Buhari on some concerns, including the proposed removal of subsidy; adding that the lawmakers were equally worried about the agitations and protests around the country over the move to end petrol subsidy.
Lawan, who said the subsidy could not be transferred to citizens, expressed doubt over the reported consumption of 100 million litres of Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) per day in the country.
He said he was glad to inform Nigerians that Buhari had not told anyone to remove petroleum subsidy.
