The removal of the fuel subsidy by President Bola Tinubu’s administration has led to a significant increase in the revenue shared among the federal, state, and local governments, rising from N760 billion in 2023 to N3.2 trillion in 2024.
This was disclosed by, the Special Adviser on Media & Public Affairs to the President, Sunday Dare, during an interview on Arise Television’s Prime Time on Thursday night.
Dare stated that before the subsidy removal, Nigeria was losing $7.5 billion each year, a situation he deemed unsustainable.
He called on Nigerians to hold state governors accountable for the efficient use of the increased revenues, stressing that the subsidy removal has unlocked funds that can be directed toward essential human capital development.
“Sometimes, if you refuse to take the stitch you need in time, you have to take so many stitches down the road. This country was hemorrhaging,” Dare said.
He pointed out that for more than three decades, successive administrations had refrained from removing the subsidy, despite its inefficiency and corruption-laden structure.
He emphasized that over this period, 87 Nigerian companies and individuals were implicated in subsidy scams, leading to billions of naira in losses for the country.
“At the point he [President Tinubu came in, two brakes were necessary. You look at 30 years of this country skirting around subsidy removal. We were hemorrhaging $7.5 billion every year. We had a period in which 87 Nigerian companies and individuals were declared wanted for corruption related to subsidy scams,” he noted.
Dare explained that the removal of the subsidy has caused a significant shift in the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) disbursements. While the total monthly allocation was N760 billion in 2023, it has increased to N3.2 trillion in 2024.
“The resources that have been freed up for human capital development, and one part that is really poignant is the fact, in 2023, N760 billion, that was the FAAC that was shared by the 36 states and the federal government.
“As of 2024, that moved up to N3.2 trillion. Now, when it comes to governance, there’s the federal government, there’s the sub-national. Every month, these monies are shared. It has tripled to the state government. So, subsidy has freed up resources. If subsidy was not removed, we would not have it go up to 3.2 trillion,” he maintained.
