Just as President Muhammadu Buhari is away to London for anti-corruption summit, the federal government has announced the removal of fuel subsidy.
According to a report on Vanguard, the President Buhari-led Federal Government has today, Wednesday, 11th May 2016, officially removed subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit, also known as petrol as it will now sell for N145 per litre.
A statement issued by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu, at the end of a meeting presided over by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo in Abuja on Wednesday, read;
"We share the pains of Nigerians but, as we have constantly said, the inherited difficulties of the past and the challenges of the current times imply that we must take difficult decisions on these sorts of critical national issues.
"Along with this decision, the federal government has in the 2016 budget made an unprecedented social protection provision to cushion the current challenges.
"The Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) will be announcing a new price band effective today, 11th May, 2016 and that the new price for PMS will not be above N145 per litre.
"We expect that this new policy will lead to improved supply and competition and eventually drive down pump prices, as we have experienced with diesel. In addition, this will also lead to increased product availability and encourage investments in refineries and other parts of the downstream sector. It will also prevent diversion of petroleum products and set a stable environment for the downstream sector in Nigeria.
"We believe in the long term, that improved supply and competition will drive down prices."