Nigeria’s former Finance Minister, Kemi Adeosun, says all ministers who served alongside her were aware that fuel subsidy was damaging the country’s finances and could not be sustained. Speaking in a TV interview, she said the government knew it had to stop allocating funds to the subsidy, but lacked the political courage to remove it at the time.
She said investigations later showed that subsidised fuel was being smuggled across Nigeria’s land borders, inflating daily consumption figures far beyond what domestic use could justify. According to Adeosun, this meant Nigeria was effectively subsidising fuel consumption across West Africa, diverting funds that could have been spent on roads, education and healthcare.
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Ms. Adeosun said savings from subsidy removal must now be converted into visible public benefits, urging Nigerians to scrutinise budgets and demand accountability from their leaders.
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