We are not buying petrol for just Nigeria – Finance Minister, Wale Edun, says

The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, has revealed that Nigeria does not import fuel for itself alone but for other neighbouring countries. According to him, the country spends $600 million monthly on fuel imports.

He said this during an interview on AIT. The Minister clarified that the absence of accurate statistics on the nation’s domestic fuel use was the reason President Bola Tinubu decided to end the fuel subsidy.

“The fuel subsidy was removed May 29, 2023, by Mr President, and at that time, the poorest of 40 per cent was only getting four per cent of the value, and basically, they were not benefitting at all. So it was going to be just a few. Another important point is that nobody knows the consumption in Nigeria of petroleum. We know we spend $600m to import fuel every month but the issue here is that all the neighbouring countries are benefitting.

So we are buying not for                                                                       just for Nigeria, we are buying for countries to the east, almost as far as Central Africa. We are buying for countries to the North and we are buying for countries to the West. And so we have to ask ourselves as Nigerians, how long do we want to do that for and that is the key issue regarding the issue of petroleum pricing.”

The finance minister went on to say that the N570 billion funds distribution to state governments took effect in December 2023.

“This actually refers to a reimbursement that they received from December last year onwards and it was a reimbursement I think under the COVID financing protocol but the point is that the states have received more money. They have received more money. Mr President has charged to ensure food production in the states,” he said