Buhari has also written the Senate, seeking for a review of the Finance Act 2021.
By Emma ogbuehi
President Muhammadu Buhari has written the Senate, seeking approval of a supplementary budget of N2.557trn to cover subsidy on petroleum products from June to December 2022.
President Buhari’s letter was read on Tuesday during plenary by the President of the Senate, Senator Ahmad Lawan.
The amount approved for subsidy on Petroleum products from January to June was N443 billion and with the present request, the total amount stands at N3 trillion.
Indications that the President would submit the supplementary budget emerged on Tuesday, January 25, when the Federal Government announced that it had shelved the planned removal of subsidy on petroleum products till further notice.
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The removal was scheduled to commence from July1. That would have seen the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), known as Petrol, jumping from its present N162-165 regime to N302 per litre.
Minister of Finance, Budget and Economic Planning, Zainab Ahmed, who announced the postponement, said that the Federal Government planned the action to take effect by the time the subsidy provision in the 2022 budget would have been exhausted.
She, added however, that in view of the timing which is “problematic”, government decided to suspend its plan to go ahead with the removal in July, in view of consultations with relevant bodies and individuals.
In opposition to the planned removal, organised Labour under the aegis of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and its affiliate bodies had commenced mobilization of members and other Nigerians for a nationwide protest and consequent industrial action to draw the attention of the government on the likely impact of the action.
NLC cited severe economic hardship on Nigerians in the vent of the subsidy removal explaining that the process of petroleum products and other consumables would go up. The workers listed conditions for the government to fulfill before contemplating the subsidy removal to ensure that Nigerians were not subjected to further hardship.
One of these measures was for the government to ensure that the refineries in the country were working on full stream to ensure local production of fuel. Apparently reading the mood of the time, the government suspended the subsidy removal for 18 months, hence the president to submit a supplementary budget to cover the cost of importation for the time being.
