Temitope Ajayi, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, has refuted media reports suggesting the Bola Tinubu-led government has plans to reintroduce some form of subsidy.
The reports suggested that President Tinubu is considering a “temporary subsidy” on petrol as crude oil prices and foreign exchange rates continue to soar.
But Ajayi says there is no truth in the reports that have been going around, especially on social media.
According to him, the president is convinced that the current pricing can be maintained without reversing the policy.
He said the president is instead focused on addressing the incapabilities of the midstream and downstream petroleum sector.
He made the clarification on Twitter as the reports began generating interest among Nigerians.
His words:
”There is no plan to reintroduce any form of fuel subsidy. There is no condition to support any increase in prices at this time.
”President Tinubu is convinced, based on the information before him, that we can maintain current pricing without reversing the current deregulation policy by swiftly cleaning up existing inefficiencies within the midstream and downstream petroleum sector.”
Ajayi’s clarification also comes at a time some media outlets in Nigeria are reporting that the Kenyan government recently re-introduced fuel subsidies to curb soaring petrol, kerosene, and diesel prices in the country.
But, the East African country’s Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) has denied the return of fuel subsidy even as it moves to tap into the Petroleum Development Levy to compensate Oil Marketing Companies.
EPRA said the government has not returned to fuel subsidies. Still, it has returned to fuel stabilisation through the Petroleum Development Levy (PDL), where for every litre of petrol a motorist buys, a fraction goes to the PDL for stabilisation.