Petrol Subsidy Removal Not Immediate

The removal of petrol subsidy will no longer be immediate, ABN TV gathered authoritatively last night.

Recall that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had said in his inauguration speech Monday that the subsidy was gone, as it was not provided for in the 2023 budget.

But sources told ABN TV yesterday that implementation of the removal of subsidy would commence post-June.

The need to clarify issues, sources told Vanguard, informed the meeting the President had with the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, and the Group Chief Executive Officer of Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL, Mr. Mele Kyari, in the Presidential Villa, Abuja, yesterday.

It was learned that the essence of the meeting was to engage labour anytime from today to ensure the seamless removal of the subsidy.

A source said one of the fallouts of the meeting was for NNPCL to set up a template that would ensure that no toxic fuel was imported into the country and also create a benchmark for price.

The clarification came as scarcity of the product ground activities in major cities nationwide yesterday.

Yesterday, fuel queues emerged in many petrol stations as marketers who started hoarding fuel sold the product for as high as N600 per litre and transporters hiked fares.

From the South-West to the South-East, South-South to North-West and other zones of the country, it was tales of woe and fuel crisis gathered steam.

Tinubu resumes at Aso Rock, meets with Emefiele, Kyari

Meanwhile, President Bola Tinubu yesterday met with the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, and the Group Chief Executive Officer, of the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL, Mr. Mele Kyari, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on the matter.

This was the first official assignment by the President after his inauguration as the 16th president of the country at Eagle Square, Abuja

He arrived at the forecourt of the State House at about 2:30 pm through the quarter guard gate, which is his official entrance gate and was received by the Vice President, Senator Kashim Shettima, the Permanent Secretary, State House, Tijjani Umar, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila and the out-going Director of Protocol, DOP, Emefiele and Kyari, among others.

Although the agenda of the meeting was not made public, it may be in connection with the removal of fuel subsidies and the attendant fuel scarcity.

It was learned that the issue of unification of foreign exchange, and recent naira redesign was also discussed.