Rich Nigerians, not the poor, profiting from fuel subsidy – FG

The Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Clem Agba, on Tuesday, reaffirmed the need to deregulate the downstream petroleum through removing the subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit (PMS).

As indicated by him, only the rich were presently profiting from the subsidy.

Agba spoke during the leadership and Governors’ dialogue on Open Government Partnership, which took place in Abuja on Tuesday.

He said, “Some will say if you take out fuel subsidies the ordinary will suffer; how will the ordinary man suffer? Is it in terms of food? Vehicles that are used for moving food are heavy duty vehicles. They don’t use PMS; they use diesel and that has since been deregulated. Those that we are actually subsidising are the very rich.”

The Minister emphasised the significance of Open Government Partnership, which he stated was to allow Nigerians to understand the poor state of the economy and look for ways to improve the condition.