Nasir El-Rufai, former governor of Kaduna state, highlighted a significant shift in the federal government’s expenditure on petrol subsidy. Contrary to President Bola Tinubu’s earlier declaration that the “subsidy is gone”, El-Rufai stated that the government has resumed subsidizing petrol, marking a noticeable reversal in policy.
Elaborating on this during a capacity-building workshop in Maiduguri, El-Rufai shared, “The government has started paying petrol subsidy.” This statement contradicts Tinubu’s May 29, 2023 inauguration speech where he confidently proclaimed the end of petrol subsidy.
According to El-Rufai, “The federal government is now subsidizing fuel; many people don’t know this”.
“It is a right policy. I have always supported the withdrawal of oil subsidy; but in the course of implementing the policy, the government realised that subsidy has to be back; right now, government is spending a lot of money for subsidy, even more than before.
“You start implementing a policy because you are absolutely sure it is the right policy, but in the course of implementation, you come across bottlenecks, and you modify.
“The keyword in leadership, in my view, is pragmatism. You should be pragmatic. So when you make a policy, you start implementing it, and it doesn’t seem to work well. You should have the humility to stand back and say this is not working, and you modify it.”
This development follows an August 15, 2023 report by TheCable, indicating Tinubu’s contemplation of a “temporary subsidy” on petrol. Sources within the presidency revealed that while a final decision remains pending, the proposal for reinstating a subsidy is actively under consideration.
