Senate President Ahmed Lawan has said that President Muhammadu Buhari did not direct anyone in his administration to remove petroleum subsidy.
Lawan spoke to State House correspondents on Tuesday after visiting the president. Lawan said he met Buhari to express the concerns of his constituents on various issues including the proposed removal of subsidy.
“He didn’t tell anybody that we should go remove petroleum subsidy. And those of us who represent the people know how people are already stressed over and again . . . it is going to be too much for them,” Lawan said.
While questioning the purported volume of fuel consumption in the country, Lawan said, “I know and I agree that the subsidy is very heavy. But I think we must never transfer the burden to the citizens.
“I believe that we need to look at the quoted figure of maybe 100 million liters that people claim we’re consuming.
“Is it real? I mean is it either under-recoveries of subsidy? Is it really 100 million liters per day? How on earth are we consuming that? We need to look at this critically and see how we can find the truth.
“I am not convinced that within the boundaries of Nigeria we are consuming 100 million liters, probably neighbouring countries may be benefiting from this. Can’t we do something about it? It is a failure on us if we are not able to control it.”
