In a Bloomberg interview yesterday, president Buhari defended the federal governments decision to keep paying subsidy.
The president remarked that the persistent calls on Nigeria by the international monetary fund (IMF) and the world bank was untenable.
In his words, president Buhari said that “Most Western countries are today implementing fuel subsidies. Why would we remove ours now? What is good for the geese is good for the gander.”
“What our Western allies are learning the hard way is that what looks good on paper and the human consequences are two different things.
My government set in motion plans to remove the subsidy last year, but after further consultation with stakeholders and as events unfolded this year, such a move has become increasingly untenable.”
“Boosting internal production for refined products will help. Capacity is due to increase later this year and next as private players and modular refineries e.g Dangote refineries, BUA group refineries and Walter Smith refineries etc come on board.
The exchange rate is also susceptible to external shocks that can suddenly and severely affect Nigerian citizens.
As we stop up domestic production both in fuel and food, the inflationary threat will diminish and we can move towards unification”.
Folarin Kehinde is an Abuja-based journalist with over 5 years of experience in journalism. His work has earned him national and international recognition across various beats, including environment, health and politics.
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