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| 'No Budget Allocation' – Nigerian Government Rules Out Fuel Subsidy Return Amid Protests |
The Nigerian Government has ruled out the reintroduction of fuel subsidies despite ongoing hunger protests.
Finance Minister Wale Edun made this announcement on Tuesday during an interview with AIT.
His statement comes in response to protesters' demands for the return of fuel subsidies to alleviate the rising cost of living.
However, Edun clarified that the 2024 national budget does not include provisions for fuel subsidies.
He emphasized that the country is showing signs of economic improvement.
“There is no fuel subsidy in the budget. That is the truth and the technical fact. We have signs that we are going in the right direction. What we must determine to do is to maintain these trends,” he stated.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, in his recent address to Nigerians, acknowledged that the decision to remove fuel subsidies was painful but necessary.
In contrast, former President Olusegun Obasanjo, in an interview with the Financial Times, claimed that Nigeria's fuel subsidy had effectively returned due to inflation.
Recall that President Tinubu removed the fuel subsidy in June 2023, causing the price of fuel to surge from N238 to over N600 per liter.
