Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, president of the African Development Bank, has criticised the Federal Government’s fuel subsidy programme, claiming that it solely favours the wealthy.
Speaking on Saturday at the presidential inaugural lecture in Abuja, Adesina claimed that Nigeria’s economy is being killed by the ongoing subsidisation of petroleum products.
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He claimed that in 2022, fuel subsidies alone cost the continent’s most populated country’s economy $10 billion.
He argued that Nigeria continues to borrow money for purposes for which it shouldn’t be doing so and suggested that this money be used for national development instead.
Adesina said;
The place to start therefore is to remove the inefficient fuel subsidy. Nigeria’s fuel subsidies benefit the rich, not the poor, fuelling theirs and the government’s endless fleet of cars at the expense of the poor.
Estimates show that the poorest 40 per cent of the population consume just three per cent of petrol.
Fuel subsidies are killing the Nigerian economy, costing the economy of Nigeria $10 billion in 2022. That means that Nigeria is borrowing what it doesn’t have to borrow.
Rather than spending billions on crude oil, the AfDB boss called on the Federal Government to support private-sector refineries as well as modular refineries for efficiency and competitiveness.
The move, according to him, is necessary to drive down the pump prices of petroleum products.
He commended the President Muhammadu Buhari administration for commissioning the Dangote Refinery in Lagos, recently, saying the project will revolutionise Nigeria’s economy.
Adesina also commended Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, for investing $19 billion to construct the refinery in the country.
