Nigerians in an online poll urged the Federal Government to prepare Nigerians for higher fuel prices that will follow the removal of the petrol subsidy in 2023.
This is the result of two recent online polls conducted by Arise TV.
Respondents were asked on Twitter and YouTube whether it was the responsibility of the government, economic think-tanks, the media and the labour unions to prepare Nigerians for post-subsidy fuel prices.
Forty-four per cent fingered the government, while 43 per cent said it was the responsibility of all of them.
Responding to the poll, Partner and Chief Economist at PwC Nigeria, Dr Andrew Nevin, said, “There needs to be some communication to Nigerians on planning for what is going to be a major change.”
Chief Economist at Coronation Merchant Bank, Chinwe Egwim, also responded to the poll, saying that a collective effort was required from the perspective of government in terms of policy reform “and the media as one of the most powerful tools that can communicate change and articulate the right message to support necessary adjustments to a post-fuel subsidy Nigeria.”
Chief Economist at the Development Bank of Nigeria, Professor Joseph Nnanna, said, “Economic Think-Tanks have a role in explaining the economic implications for Nigerians, especially for those at the bottom of the pyramid.”
Chief Executive Officer of the CFG Advisory, Tilewa Adebajo, said it was basically the job of the government.
“If government is not taking the lead in this, then it is not going to work. We do not have enough revenue to service our debts. Our revenues are down because we are paying subsidies and NNPC has remitted little to nothing to the Federation Account.
“The government is violating the Fiscal Responsibility Act. If there is no political will from the government, then we will still be talking about fuel subsidies next year.”
The economy has suffered greatly as a result of the nation’s deteriorating fortunes, and according to the administration, if fuel subsidies are kept, worse budgetary times would start in 2023.
According to Zainab Ahmed, Minister of Finance and National Planning, the government’s budget deficit would exceed N12.42 trillion if petroleum subsidies were maintained through the entire fiscal year 2023.
Mrs Ahmed revealed this when testifying before the House of Representatives Committee on Finance to support the Fiscal Strategy Paper and Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) for 2023–2025. (FSP).
She stated that in order to pay the budget deficit in 2023, the Federal Government planned to borrow approximately N11 trillion and sell national assets.
Ghana has revenue to GDP ratio of 13% while Nigeria’s is 9%. Nigeria has seven times more people than Ghana, which has 31 million.
Kenya and Angola have revenue-to-GDP ratios of 16.6% and 20.9%, respectively, according to the Debt Management Office.
Nigeria doesn’t also collect enough taxes; its tax as a percentage of GDP is 9%, with the lowest amount seen in 2016. ( 5.3 per cent).
However, according to Revenue Statistics in Africa 2021, 16.6% was the average for the 30 African nations.
