* Appeals to citizens for perseverance
President Muhammadu Buhari has said that the Federal government would not go back on its decision to remove fuel subsidy.
The president, who stated this while declaring open a two-day First Year Ministerial Performance Review Retreat at the State House Conference Centre, Abuja, added that there would be negative consequences if the government continued with the business of fixing or subsidising the price of petrol.
Represented by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, Buhari said the COVID-19 pandemic had led to a severe downturn in the funds available to finance the nation’s budget and severely hampered the government’s capacity.
He added that one of the steps the government took at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in March was the deregulation of the product.
Buhari said the government is mindful of the pains that higher products prices have brought on the people.
He stressed that government did not take the sacrifices that all Nigerians had to make for granted.
The president said: “There are several negative consequences if the government should even attempt to go back to the business of fixing or subsidising PMS prices.
“First of all, it would mean a return to the costly subsidy regime; today we have 60 percent less revenues; we just cannot afford the cost.
“The second danger is the potential return of fuel queues – which has, thankfully, become a thing of the past under this administration.
“Nigerians no longer have to endure long queues just to buy petrol, often at highly inflated prices. Also, as I hinted earlier, there is no provision for fuel subsidy in the revised 2020 budget.
“Simply because we are not able to afford it, if reasonable provisions must be made for health, education, and other social services.
“We will continue to seek ways and means of cushioning pains especially for the most vulnerable in our midst.
“We will also remain alert to our responsibilities to ensure that marketers do not exploit citizens by raising pump price arbitrarily.
“This is the role that the government must now play through the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA).