When Senator Ningi asked the Minister of Finance during the 2025 budget defense last Thursday to account for the amount of money saved from FG fuel subsidy removal and how it was spent for transparency, the Minister quickly requested a closed-door meeting.
 





When the subsidy was removed, the announcement was made public, and no need to remind any Nigerian how the policy has thrown Nigerians into untold hardship. Nigerians deserve to know how the policy has helped reduce our indebtedness and how the money realized from implementing the policy has been allocated. 


In 1995, General Sani Abacha, Nigeria's former Head of State, increased fuel prices from N3.25 to N11.00. To utilize the savings from this price hike, he established the Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF), investing N60 billion in various sectors, including infrastructure, education, healthcare, and agriculture, across Nigeria's geopolitical zones.


The same Minister of Finance who bragged a few months ago that Nigeria has saved up to $20 billion from fuel subsidy and naira floating policy is now dumbfounded and requesting a closed-door meeting when asked to account for the allocation of those funds.


 If the trucks of rice the FG has shared with states are the only achievements of subsidy removal, they should inform Nigerians.They cannot remove subsidies, throw Nigerians into hardship while borrowing money on every eke market day, and expect Nigerians not to ask questions. 


Nigeria belongs to all Nigerians, and every Nigerian is entitled to know how our treasury, funded by taxpayers' money, is managed. According to the FOI Act, Nigerians have the right to request detailed information on fuel subsidy proceeds.


 For transparency's sake, the President is supposed to address Nigerians on a national broadcast, explaining how the monies generated from the fuel subsidy were spent last year for Nigerians to believe the workability of the subsidy removal. 


As president Tinubu openly announced the removal of the subsidy, so also we want to know behind an open door how much has been saved and spent from subsidy removal in 2024.We all deserved to know!