Oby Ezekwesili unveils roadmap, says fuel subsidy must go

Oby Ezekwesili, the presidential candidate of the Allied Congress Party of Nigeria (ACPN), says if elected as president, she would let go of fuel subsidy.

The former vice-president of the World Bank, said this while unveiling her roadmap for 2019 in Lagos on Monday.

She said the Muhammadu Buhari government has renamed oil subsidy and under-recovery and has spent N1.3 trillion on fuel subsidies.

She went on to put the figure in context, by saying the same government allocated N1.3 trillion to capital projects for an entire budget year.

Ezekwesili said she is committed to implementing difficult reforms, including the oil sector reform.

“When I read somewhere that the minister of state for petroleum resources disclosed that the federal government spends N1.3trillion on under-recovery, which is the new name that this government has given to fuel subsidy, I was shaken.

“N1.3 trillion, as in 1.3 trillion? Let me put that figure in perspective for you. The former minister of finance told us a few months ago that the total amount that the federal government released for capital expenditure is N1.3 trillion”.