The Medium Term Expenditure Framework, submitted to the Senate on October 4, says the removal of fuel subsidies would save the country over $800 billion.
Supporting the push for an end to fuel subsidy, Special Adviser to the President on National Assembly Matters, Senator Joy Emordi said the money will be spent on providing “safety nets” for the poor.
Canvassing for an end to fuel subsidy, the Minister of Labour and Productivity, Chief Emeka Wogu, met with the Senate Committee on Employment, Labour and Productivity.
“We seek your support in the direction of deregulation policy and believe that what will accrue to the Federal Government from the removal of the fuel subsidy will be judiciously used as well as monitored and managed by eminent Nigerians who are well respected in the society,” Wogu told the committee members.
Despite the arguments made for supporting the scrapping of fuel subsidies, the plan has been widely criticised by some sectors of the government.
Jonathan and the Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, had on October 10 met with the leadership of the National Assembly at the Presidential Villa to argue their position.
However, the National assembly is still unconvinced.
“I cannot say for now what the position of the National Assembly is, and the decision on that will be taken when the budget is presented debated on the floor,” Senate spokesman, Enyinnaya Abaribe, told reporters.
The federal government plans to reach out to those who are opposed to the plan, particularly labour leaders, civil rights groups and religious leaders.
Jonathan urged ministries of petroleum and finance to reach out to members of the National Assembly to lobby for an anti-fuel subsidy support.
The executive and the National Assembly plan to engage all sectors of the government in their bid to scrap the fuel subsidy.
Most lawmakers were waiting to see the content of the 2012 budget before they took their positions on the fuel subsidy issue.
According to Awareness for Development analysis, there is a strong resolve by Nigerians to resist government attempts to implement the European Development Fund (EDF) and the International Monetary Fund’s agenda to deregulate the downstream oil sector, which to the average Nigerian, simply means the removal of fuel subsidies.
This is a hard sell, given the arguments presented by top bureaucrats in the Nigerian oil business and even more compelling, the candid revelations by Enrique Amundel, the Venezuelan ambassador to Nigeria, on some “facts of the matter” on the deregulation debates.