Former Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasiru El-Rufai has revealed that over N8 trillion may have been spent by the Bola Tinubu’s administration to subsidy the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit (petrol), insisting that the price of petrol should have been higher than diesel presently sold at about N1,000 if not for the subsidy.
The diesel is now sold above N1,000 depending on the location, compared to PMS which varies between N600 to 750 per litre.
The former Kaduna State governor made the assertion on Monday in Maiduguri, the Borno state capital while delivering a lead paper at the occasion of Capacity Building Workshop on Enhancing Skills of Government Officials in Policy Implementation and Productive Human Management Resources for Commissioners, Chief Advisers and Special Advisers, Senior Technical Advisers, to Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno State, Heads or Chief Executives of Agencies and Departments, Tertiary Institutions and local government Chairmen at International Conference Centre, Musa Usman Secretariat, Maiduguri.
El-Rufai did not however specify whether or not the N8 trillion was monthly subsidy or an accumulated sum of money since President Bola Tinubu took over as Nigeria’s President over nine months ago.
He said: “Asiwaju ( President Bola Tinubu) announce withdrawal of fuel subsidy on 29th May , but believe it or not , fuel subsidy is back , we’re spending more now, about N8 trillion on subsidy than before 29th of May.
He said: “For example, if you appoint a person to a position and he is not performing to expectations, you should have the humility to say look, I need a better person to do the job perfectly. Leadership is a continuous thing and in a term of four years, you can’t assess a government of nine months.
“But as I also said earlier during my presentation, the removal of fuel subsidy by the present administration is another good policy by President Tinubu. I have always supported withdrawal of fuel subsidy. But as you can see, in the course of implementation, the government has now realized that the subsidy has to be back, because right now, we are paying a lot of money amounting to trillions of naira for subsidy even more than before, because the impact has been seen and the packages of support that will reduce the impact have not been effective in reducing the impact, and so, the federal government has to backpedal by subsidizing petrol.
“Many people don’t know this. If they want to know whether there is fuel subsidy or not, they should compare the prices of petrol and diesel per litre. This is because, under normal circumstances, petrol is supposed to be more expensive than diesel. As it is, diesel is above N1000, while petrol stood at about N600 per litre. So we are still subsidizing for fuel in Nigeria.”
The former Kaduna State governor however stated that no policy is cast on stone and that the present administration has done the right thing by making the necessary adjustment on fuel subsidy.
Earlier in his welcome address, the Borno State Head of Service, Barrister Mallam Fannami commended former governor El-Rufai for honoring the invitation, as participants would have the opportunity to tap from his wealth of experience in the public service after the 5-Day Workshop.
He also appreciated Governor Zulum for his unwavering commitment and passion to rejuvenate and fix the state civil service to make it a working, effective, efficient and robust service delivery institution in the state.
While declaring the workshop open, Zulum who was represented by his Deputy, Umar Usman Kadafur, commended the organizers for the choice of the lead speaker , Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, adding that the former Kaduna state governor is not only a politician, but a man of impeccable credentials and outstanding performance and records in public service.
The governor admitted that the ripple effects of the workshop would be felt in public administration in the state, insisting that “it will undoubtedly impact positively on the running of government business, therefore, I want to reassure our civil servants that my administration has noted the continual need for this type of training to improve the quality of our civil servants for delivery of quality services to our people.”
Michael Olugbode in Maiduguri
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