From Aidoghie Paulinus, Abuja
Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, has warned against calls to restore the petrol subsidy, saying a return to the old regime would undermine Nigeria’s improving fiscal position, weaken investor confidence and reverse gains from the economic reforms of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration.
Idris, in an Op-Ed titled “Restoring Fuel Subsidy Will Reverse Nigeria’s Economic Gains,” issued in Abuja by his Special Assistant on Media, Rabiu Ibrahim, outlined the fiscal benefits of subsidy removal and the economic risks he said Nigeria would face if petrol subsidy were reintroduced.
“Restoring subsidy would almost instantly return Nigeria to the economic conditions of 2022, recreating the same fiscal pressures, distortions, scarcity and incentives for arbitrage that made the old system unsustainable,” Idris said.
The minister said proponents of subsidy restoration must confront its opportunity costs, asking whether the country should restore petrol subsidy at the expense of funding student loans and consumer credit for young Nigerians, maintaining higher allocations to states and local governments, or continuing investments in roads, rail, power and security.
He also questioned whether Nigeria could afford to divert resources from healthcare, education and social protection for vulnerable citizens in order to subsidise petrol.
Idris recalled that in 2022, amid declining oil production and weak revenues, Nigeria spent about $10 billion on fuel subsidies, while the World Bank warned that the subsidy was consuming resources that could otherwise have supported education, healthcare, infrastructure and social protection.
Citing the Federal Government’s recently presented Nigeria’s Reform Scorecard: The Benefits, Costs and Harms Prevented, Idris said the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Dr Taiwo Oyedele, disclosed that subsidy savings had mobilised ₦15.8 trillion in resources for the Federation between June 2023 and December 2025.
He explained that approximately N5.43 trillion accrued to the Federal Government, N6.52 trillion to states and N3.88 trillion to local governments.
Idris, however, clarified that the ₦15.8 trillion was not a separate pool of cash but resources released within the Federation’s wider fiscal system.
According to him, the increased fiscal space has strengthened the capacity of states and local governments to meet salary and pension obligations and invest in essential services, while supporting major federal investments in infrastructure, security, agriculture and human capital.
He said the Reform Scorecard recorded approximately N6.47 trillion in additional expenditure on strategic infrastructure, alongside more than N400 billion committed to major social investment initiatives, including the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), the MOFI Real Estate Investment Fund (MREIF) and CREDICORP.
Idris also said social transfers had reached more than 10 million Nigerian households.
The minister noted that Nigeria was already carrying an electricity subsidy estimated at N3.14 trillion between June 2023 and December 2025, warning that restoring petrol subsidy would place an additional burden on public finances.
He said the Organised Private Sector and the wider economic community had also cautioned against reversing the reform.
“Nigeria cannot build tomorrow’s economy by returning to yesterday’s unsustainable subsidy regime. We have moved beyond that model,” Idris said.
He urged Nigerians to assess the reforms within the context of the country’s long-term economic stability and the need to build a stronger and more productive economy.
(The Sun)