Newly sworn in as president, Bola Tinubu said on Monday that there would be no spending on subsidies in his budget, in line with his campaign promise.
"Instead, we will redirect funds towards better investments in public infrastructure, education, health care and jobs that will improve the lives of our citizens," said Tinubu, 71, during his inaugural speech.
"The subsidies are disappearing," he added without giving a specific date, sowing confusion among the population and causing the rush of motorists to gas stations.
The president's communications team was quick to clarify Tuesday that the subsidies expire at the end of June, describing the panic purchase of fuel as "unnecessary."
Nigeria is exchanging its crude oil estimated at billions of dollars for imported fuel (due to the failure of its state refineries) which it subsequently subsidizes, to keep an artificially low price on the market, creating a financial abyss.
It is therefore a very popular measure with the population but it siphons billions of dollars from the public coffers every year.
Its removal, long advocated by the World Bank and IMF to promote development, raises fears of a significant increase in fuel prices in the short term in Africa's most populous country, where nearly half of Nigerians already live in extreme poverty.
Nigerian President Bola Tinubu in Abuja, May 29, 2023 © KOLA SULAIMON / AFP
"No stopgap has been put in place to move things forward. I think we are heading for a terrible situation, worse than before," said Emeka Emef, a 43-year-old civil servant, outside a station in Lagos, the economic capital.
"It's more suffering for Nigerians," he said, already facing double-digit inflation.
Over the past decade, the authorities have tried to remove these subsidies several times. In vain. Each time, they had to backtrack in the face of the anger of the population, inflated by the unions.
In 2012, the army even took to the streets to maintain calm during massive demonstrations.
© 2023 AFP