By Emmanuel Nduka
Nigeria’s National Economic Council (NEC) on Thursday said the much talked about decision of the Government to remove petrol subsidy, will be made in June when the provision for its payment in the 2022 budget expires.
The Council said though conservation on subsidy removal has been going on, it was yet to take a position on it.
The NEC chaired by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, met in the villa on Thursday, with the declaration that since the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited has become a limited liability company, it must be run differently.
Speaking to State House correspondents on the outcome of the meeting, Abdulahi Sule, Governor of Nasarawa State, said it was understandable that the provision for the payment of the subsidy is made in the 2022 budget only until June.
He re-echoed that any decision on the removal of subsidy will be taken after the budget provision runs its course in June.
Similarly, Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State, pointed out that petrol which sells for N162-165 per liter in Nigeria, sells a hundred percent higher in other countries.
He noted that the federal government was spending about N2 trillion on petroleum subsidy, an amount, he said could have been used for other purposes.
Thus, he said NEC has decided that it should not be allowed to continue.
