A whopping N13 trillion was spent by the federal government on fuel subsidy in 16 years, Boss Mustapha the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF has said.
The period is between 2005 and 2021, covering the administrations of Olusegun Obasanjo, Umaru Yar’adua, Goddluck Jonathan and Mohammadu Buhari the SGF said.
The revelation is coming on the heels of federal government’s decision not to end subsidy by the middle of this year as earlier promised.
That decision will now be taken by the incoming administration of Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the government said.
Mustapha made the revelation on Monday in Abuja, the nation’s capital during the launch of the 2022-2026 Strategic Plan of the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, NEITI.
He said the sum is enough to cover the nation’s total capital budget for 10 years, adding that the funds spent on subsidy has become a big challenge for the nation’s economy.
According to him, the federal government decided to move the removal of the subsidy forward in order to allow for robust debate among Nigerians.
The SGF said the funds spent on subsidy could have been more if not for various measures taken by the government.
“From that Policy Advisory, over N13trillion (N74Billion) is documented to have been expended on the payment of subsidy between 2005 and 2021. The figure in relative terms is equivalent to Nigeria’s entire budget for health, education, agriculture, and defence in the last five years, and almost the capital expenditure for 10 years between 2011 2020,” Mustapha said.
“While we remain open to the ongoing debate, a comprehensive position to guide the incoming administration on when and how to make this decision is being developed by the Presidential Transition Council which I currently head.
“I therefore have no doubt that the incoming administration will consider our position on the issue and make an informed decision in the overriding public interest.
“However, I must state that the Buhari administration has done excellently well in managing the subsidy burden in-spite of the complex challenges it has posed to the economy over these years, putting at the forefront of its considerations, the welfare and needs of the average Nigerian.”
