The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, on Monday said there is not provision for payment of petrol subsidy in the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB).
As such, he said the assent of the bill by President Muhammadu Buhari will put an end to the payment of petrol subsidy in Nigeria,
Sylva made this known this while speaking at the Nigeria/Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries: 50 Years of Partnership press conference in Abuja.
He added that the government would commence the rehabilitation of the Warri and Kaduna refineries in order to increase domestic refining of petrol and to cushion the impact of subsidy removal.
The minister said, “This (subsidy removal) is desirable for the interest and growth of Nigeria. Of course, everybody will have their perspectives, but from where I sit, I believe that subsidy removal is the best thing for Nigeria, not just the industry.
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“So far, the discussions with stakeholders are still ongoing. But I will also bring it to your attention that today, when the President assents to the PIB, subsidy will become a matter of law, because it is already in the PIB that petroleum products will be sold at market determined prices.”
Sylva added, “The removal of subsidy has the potential of unlocking a lot more funds for deployment to development. Unfortunately, what we are doing by way of subsidy is like cutting our nose to spite our face.”
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