President Muhammadu Buhari may have
removed a fuel subsidy following the
proposal of the All Progressives Congress
(APC) transition committee. The advisor body has called on Buhari to work
out detailed and coordinated plan to remove
subsidy on premium motor spirit (PMS),
differently known as petrol, TheCable reports. The committee, whose report is expectable for
influence the policy way of the new
administration, also suggested that kerosene
subsidy should be scrapped immediately. While kerosene is formally N50 per litre,
Nigerians pay as much as N150 despite the
existence of subsidy  a case of dual jeopardy
for the administration and consumers but a
source of massive income for traders and fuel
import contractors.

The committee also asked the president to
privatise Nigerias four refineries by taking the
Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) as a
model. These proposals are intended to eliminate
waste and redirect resources to fuel
development, growth and job creation,
according to the committee headed by Ahmed
Joda, former super perm secretary. Nigerians queue endlessly for kerosene. Petrol subsidy, which swallows billions of dollars
every year, has been a very volatile case in
Nigerias political economy since the mid-1980s,
leading to riots and demonstrations because of
the consequent increase in pump prices of fuel
products. Attempts by the government of ex-president
Goodluck Jonathan to remove the subsidy in
2012 were welcomed with nationwide protests
amidst claims of scam in payments to marketers
running into trillions of naira. Jonathan finally
reversed the policy. Federal government now owes oil marketers
over N200 billion, a development that recently
resulted in a nationwide fuel scarcity as they cut
down on importation.

 The Joda committee has also asked Buhari to
pay indebtedness of salary and fuel subsidy:
failing which it could lead to mass labour unrest
which could undermine the goodwill of the
Administration. The advisory body recommended that all
superior subsidy liabilities should be audited and
the confirmed claims paid to traders to ensure
PMS is readily available to the market to avoid
further fuel queues. It would be recalled that the transition committee submitted its report on June 12, recommending, among other things, that Buhari should cut the
number of ministries to 19 from the current 28.