Wale Edun, minister of finance and coordinating minister of the economy, says the federal government will not reintroduce fuel subsidy despite rising petrol prices triggered by the Middle East conflict.
Edun spoke on Tuesday during a media briefing of the G-24 on the sidelines of the launch of the April 2026 global financial stability report by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The minister said Nigeria’s 2023 reforms under President Bola Tinubu, including the removal of petrol subsidy and the liberalisation of the foreign exchange market, were necessary steps that have received support from global financial institutions.
He added that although the reforms are beginning to yield results, they have been affected by external shocks beyond the country’s control.
“As you know, in the case of Nigeria, that moved very rapidly under the President who came in 2023 to remove subsidies on petroleum products, and to also remove subsidies that were related to the foreign exchange markets,” Edun said.
“And so those gains, which, if we look at them, were moving at pace and have now been negatively affected by an external shock, which had nothing to do with Nigeria or developing countries as a whole
y“Having made so much progress, it is important that we don’t return to generalised subsidies, a sort of relapse into policies that have not proven successful in the past.”
Edun warned that reversing the policies would undermine economic stability, insisting that targeted relief measures remain the most viable option.
‘PRIORITISE THE VULNERABLES RATHER THAN REVERSE REFORMS’
The minister, who currently chairs the Intergovernmental Group of 24 (G-24), said Nigeria and other oil-producing countries should prioritise targeted and temporary support for vulnerable citizens rather than reversing key economic reforms.
Responding to questions on how the crisis is affecting emerging economies, Edun said the impact differs from what was observed during the COVID-19 pandemic, noting that the transmission is not one-directional.
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