Insights: Pensioners, state workers will be immediate beneficiaries of fuel subsidy removal – Dr Andrew Nevin 

Article summary 

• Andrew Nevin said that pensioners and state workers will be the immediate beneficiaries of fuel subsidy removal.
• Young Nigerians can seize the opportunity created by the subsidy removal to explore jobs and investments in the healthcare and educational sectors.
• The fuel subsidy removal, if properly implemented, can contribute to Nigeria’s economic performance, but there may be short-term inflationary impacts and erosion of purchasing power. Improvements in security, local content development, transportation networks, and storage facilities are crucial for the oil and gas sector’s performance.

Dr Andrew Nevin, a Partner and Chief Economist at PwC Nigeria, has said that pensioners and state workers are some of the groups that stand to benefit immediately from the removal of fuel subsidies.  

He stated this during the TheTimes Q2 2023 Economic Outlook Webinar which took place on June 3. 

• “The government has a culture of being unable to pay pensioners. We all know the fuel subsidy is a form of corruption and the fuel subsidy benefits those in the upper and middle class and those who lose are the pensioners and the state employees, as state governments cannot pay their minimum wage. Those groups are going to benefit immediately from the removal of the fuel subsidy,” he said.   

He went further to commend the Nigerian government for removing the fuel subsidy because according to him, it was hampering performance in other aspects of the Nigerian economy.  

He further noted that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited has not made any transfers to the federation account since 2022 till now. And this is because the company has been making fuel subsidy payments of up to N400 billion monthly.  

Fuel subsidy removal opportunities for young Nigerians

Dr Nevin also advised young Nigerians to look at the fuel subsidy removal as an opportunity to look out for the healthcare and educational sectors.  

According to him, with adequate training, young Nigerians can seek jobs in both sectors whether in Nigeria or other countries. He also said that there are many opportunities for investments in both sectors.  

More Insights

Meanwhile, the Head of Economic Research/Intelligence at the Coronation Merchant Bank, Chinwe Egwim, who also spoke during the webinar, advised young Nigerians to always have their pulse on market dynamics because they will be able to find relevant opportunities in this manner. 

She further stated that the fuel subsidy removal should be able to support Nigeria’s revenue performance. She admitted that there will be an inflationary impact from the policy, and purchasing power will be eroded in the short term.  

However, if the policy is implemented properly, the fuel subsidy removal will mean better economic performance for Nigeria. Ms. Egwim who highlighted the oil and gas sector as one of the credible sectors which can improve the country’s overall economic growth, said that the Tinubu administration should focus on the following to improve sector performance: 

• Improving security 
• Further development of local content 
• Establishment of transportation networks including pipelines, and refineries 
• Establishment of storage facilities 

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