The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, says going back to fuel subsidy will have a negative impact on Nigeria’s economy.
In a statement issued through his media aide, Rabiu Ibrahim, on Monday in Abuja, the minister said reversing the subsidy would undermine Nigeria’s improving fiscal position and weaken investor confidence.
According to him, the removal of fuel subsidy has provided fiscal benefits for the economy, noting that it has averted economic risks.
DAILY POST recalls that the African Democratic Congress, ADC, presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, had pledged to reinstate the fuel subsidy regime if elected president of Nigeria in the forthcoming 2027 general elections.
Atiku argued that the removal of the fuel subsidy by President Bola Tinubu’s administration has not yielded any benefit for Nigeria.
Reacting, the minister said, “Subsidy reversal will worsen Nigeria’s economic gains.
“It would almost instantly return Nigeria to the economic conditions of 2022, recreating the same fiscal pressures, distortions, scarcity and incentives for arbitrage that made the old system unsustainable.”
He charged proponents of subsidy restoration to confront its real opportunity costs.
Subsidy reversal will worsen Nigeria’s economy – Information Minister knocks Atiku