Petrol subsidy savings generated N15.8trn in 30 months — Finance Minister

Finance Minister Taiwo Oyedele says savings from the removal of petrol subsidy generated N15.8 trillion for the federation between June 2023 and December 2025.

Oyedele said this on Wednesday while presenting the scorecard of the President Bola Tinubu administration.

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He said N5.4 trillion went to the Federal Government, while N10.4 trillion was shared among state and local governments.

The minister said the Federal Government also generated N3.1 trillion in additional revenue, mainly through remittances from government-owned agencies.

He added that additional borrowing brought in N11.9 trillion, bringing the government’s total additional resources during the period to N20.4 trillion.

According to Oyedele, the funds helped finance N30.64 trillion in additional spending.

He said N9.39 trillion was used for wage adjustments, minimum wage increases and allowances for public workers, while N9.37 trillion went to servicing external debt and N6.5 trillion to key infrastructure projects.

Oyedele said 58 per cent of the additional resources came from borrowing, 27 per cent from subsidy savings and 15 per cent from other revenue.

He said the government’s reforms were not mainly aimed at raising revenue but at tackling corruption and fixing problems in the economy.

The minister also said the reforms had improved workers’ welfare, with the minimum wage increasing from N30,000 to N70,000.

He added that NELFUND had provided affordable student loans to more than 1.5 million students, while cash transfers, subsidised mortgages and agricultural programmes had supported vulnerable households.

Oyedele said the new Tax Act exempted low-income earners and small businesses and simplified the tax system.

He also said the reforms helped prevent a deeper economic crisis, noting that 27 states struggled to pay salaries in May 2023, compared with none currently facing such difficulties.

The minister said the government had estimated that at least 30 states could have faced salary payment problems without the reforms.

He added that the gap between the official exchange rate and the parallel market rate had fallen from more than 60 per cent to below five per cent.