Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris
The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, has rejected calls for the restoration of petrol subsidy, saying Nigeria has moved beyond the model and warning that a return to it would reverse the economic gains recorded since its removal.
Idris said restoring the subsidy would undermine the country’s improving fiscal position, weaken investor confidence and recreate the economic pressures that made the previous regime unsustainable.
The minister stated this in an Op-Ed published in some national dailies on Monday, titled, “Restoring Fuel Subsidy Will Reverse Nigeria’s Economic Gains,” according to a statement issued by his media aide, Rabiu Ibrahim, in Abuja.
“Restoring subsidy would almost instantly return Nigeria to the economic conditions of 2022, recreating the same fiscal pressures, distortions, scarcity and incentives for arbitrage that made the old system unsustainable,” Idris said.
