The federal government has announced its plan to delay implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) and retain payment of petrol subsidy for 18 months, the government yesterday approved N3 trillion for the new subsidy regime.

The Federal Executive Council (FEC) approved the sum at its weekly meeting in Abuja. The N3 trillion now budgeted to sustain the payment of subsidy in 2022 alone, amounts to 17.5 per cent of the total of N17.126 trillion 2022 budget that was signed into law on the last day of 2021.

Already, the approved 2022 budget has a deficit of N6.39 trillion, which is 37 per cent of the N17.126 trillion. This is a clear indication that the government may borrow more this year than it had earlier projected.

The N3 trillion approved by FEC is 55 per cent and 43 per cent of the capital component and recurrent expenditure of the 2022 budget, respectively. Implementation of the PIA, which stipulates the removal of petrol subsidy, was initially meant to commence in February 2022, but it was later shifted to July 2022.

However, due to pressure and threat of protest by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC), the removal of subsidy was suspended on Monday.