Human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Femi Falana, has questioned the whereabouts of the estimated $10 billion that would have been spent on fuel imports following the removal of petrol subsidy by President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
Falana argued that the anticipated financial gains from the subsidy removal have not translated into meaningful savings, attributing this to the devaluation of the naira and other economic policies implemented by the Federal Government.
The lawyer made the remarks while appearing on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics programme.
Falana also challenged the circumstances surrounding Tinubu’s announcement on May 29, 2023, that petrol subsidy had been removed.
According to him, the subsidy had effectively ended before the President’s announcement because the 2023 Appropriation Act did not provide funding for petrol subsidy.
He explained that no money had been allocated for subsidy payments in the budget for that year, suggesting that the May 29 declaration merely confirmed an arrangement that was already in place.
Falana subsequently questioned what had happened to the funds that Nigeria was expected to save from no longer subsidising fuel imports.
“The $10 billion that would have been spent on the importation of fuel, where is it?” he asked.
The human rights advocate maintained that the expected savings had been eroded by the sharp decline in the value of the naira.
He argued that the impact of exchange-rate depreciation, alongside what he described as the government’s neoliberal economic policies, had effectively consumed the financial benefits expected from the subsidy removal.
Falana’s comments come amid continued debate over the economic consequences of the petrol subsidy removal, particularly its impact on fuel prices, government finances and the purchasing power of Nigerians.
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