The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, has warned against calls to restore petrol subsidy, saying a return to the old regime could weaken Nigeria’s improving fiscal position, reduce investor confidence and reverse gains recorded under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s economic reforms.
Idris stated this in an Op-Ed published in national newspapers on Monday, titled “Restoring Fuel Subsidy Will Reverse Nigeria’s Economic Gains.” The minister outlined the fiscal benefits of subsidy removal, the economic challenges that had been avoided and the potential costs of bringing back petrol subsidy.
“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 Nigerians must also consider the opportunity cost of restoring subsidy, asking whether the country should redirect resources away from student loans, consumer credit, allocations to states and local governments, infrastructure, security, healthcare, education and social protection.
He recalled that Nigeria spent about $10 billion on fuel subsidies in 2022, at a time when oil production was declining and government revenues were weak. He also cited warnings from the World Bank that the subsidy was consuming funds that could have been invested in education, healthcare, infrastructure and social protection.
According to Idris, the Federal Government’s “Nigeria’s Reform Scorecard: The Benefits, Costs and Harms Prevented” showed that subsidy savings mobilised N15.8 trillion for the Federation between June 2023 and December 2025.
He explained that about N5.43 trillion accrued to the Federal Government, N6.52 trillion to states and N3.88 trillion to local governments, stressing that the N15.8 trillion was not sitting as a separate pool of cash but represented resources released within the wider Federation fiscal system.
The minister said the increased fiscal space had strengthened the ability of states and local governments to meet salary and pension obligations and invest in essential services, while also supporting federal spending on 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 programmes, including NELFUND, the MOFI Real Estate Investment Fund (MREIF) and CREDICORP.
Idris added that social transfers had reached more than 10 million Nigerian households, highlighting what he described as some of the benefits made possible by the increased fiscal space.
The minister, however, noted that Nigeria was already carrying an electricity subsidy estimated at N3.14 trillion between June 2023 and December 2025. He warned that restoring petrol subsidy would place another major burden on public finances.
He also said the Organised Private Sector and the wider economic community had cautioned against reversing the reforms, citing the importance of fiscal stability and investor confidence.
“Nigeria cannot build tomorrow’s economy by returning to yesterday’s unsustainable subsidy regime. We have moved beyond that model.”
Idris urged Nigerians to assess the reforms within the context of Nigeria’s long-term economic stability, saying the country must focus on building a stronger and more productive economy rather than returning to what he described as an unsustainable subsidy system.
Source: NAN.
