The world bank has said the continued petrol subsidy by the Nigerian government is on track to gobble up to #2.9tn this year . The world bank country director for Nigeria Shubham Chaudhuri who spoke on Monday at a panel session during the 27th National Economic Summit, has said the country could actually channel the money spent on subsidy to other things such as primary health care, education and roads.

The Minister of Finance, Budget and Planning, Zainab Ahmed also said the federal government has mad provision for subsidy only for the first half of 2022, she said; “In our 2022 budget,we only factored in subsidy for the first half of the year; the second half of the year, we are looking at complete deregulation of the sector, saving foreign exchange and potentially earning more from the oil and gas industry,”

The Director of World Bank also added to it, saying; “I think the urgency of doing something now is because the time is going in terms of retaining the hope of young Nigerians in the future and potential of Nigeria. The kinds of things that could be done right away – the petrol subsidy; yes, I hear that six months from now, perhaps with the PIA(Petroleum Industry Act) coming into effect, this will go away.”

“But the fact is can Nigeria even afford to wait for those six months? And there is a choice: N3tn to PMS subsidy which is depriving states of much-needed revenues to invest in basic services.” The Presidential Economic Advisory Council Chairman, Prof Doyin Salami said he has argued for a long time that subsidy really needed to go.

He said; “With the PIA essentially it makes illegal petrol subsidy and yes, there is a period where NNPC and the new regulatory agencies must calibrate themselves, but at the end of this period – and I think it is about six months, which explains why the minister has said for the first half of the year, there is provision.

“My view will be if we could get it done sooner than that, it will be excellent. It releases money. The key point is simply this: we are now, any which way, at the tail end of that conversation, except if we choose not to obey the law. My sense is we will obey the law and subsidy will be gone.”