The National Economic Council (NEC) has declared that it has yet to decide on the issue of fuel subsidy removal as deliberations are still ongoing.
This was revealed by the Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, as he fielded questions from State House correspondents after the NEC meeting presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Thursday at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
According to the Obaseki, the NEC has been deliberating on the issue of fuel subsidy for more than a year and is yet to reach a decision.
“There was an ad hoc committee set up by NEC and headed by Gov. Nasir El-Rufai that included members of the executive arm of government and worked on recommendations as to what we should do about the cost of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) locally,” he said.
“Because as you realise, as it has been told us, the cost of PMS in Nigeria today is about N162 for a litre whereas every other country surrounding Nigeria is selling the product at more than 100 per cent of the cost in Nigeria.
“The country, as at last year, must have spent almost N2 trillion subsidising petroleum products. That is money that could have gone into building roads; money that could have gone into healthcare and education.
“So, for NEC, the argument has been put out; should we continue this regime of spending money that we do not have to subsidise the living standard of mostly those who have vehicles.
“So, NEC has not come up with any decision yet and I think this has also been made known to the President.”
