The Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) has backed President Bola Tinubu’s decision to stop the subsidy on petrol products. On May 29, Tinubu in his inaugural address said “subsidy can no longer justify its ever-increasing costs in the wake of drying resources”.
The President pledged his administration’s support to channel the money to provide basic infrastructural needs to Nigerians. Reacting in a statement on Thursday, the RMAFC Chairman, Mohammed Shehu, said payment of “humongous” amounts to a privileged few in the name of subsidy was a major drain on the nation’s scarce resources.
He stated that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), one of the major sources of revenue to the Federation Account, had since stopped contributing to the national purse due to the fuel subsidy regime. According to the RMAFC boss, the President’s pronouncement of the removal of fuel subsidy due to the non-budgetary provision for subsidy is a masterstroke that broke the jinx and the appropriate step in the right direction.
“It is saddening to note that since 1st January, 2022 to date, the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has not been contributing to the Federation Account due to the claimed subsidy payments,” the statement read.
