At the end of meeting Commissioners of Finance of the 36 states of the federation on Thursday in Abuja , the body passed a resolution for the removal of fuel subsidy.
The Chairman of the forum, Mr. Timothy Odaah, who briefed newsmen shortly after this month’s Federation Account Allocation Committee’s meeting, said that the resolution was passed following irregularities observed in the fuel subsidy regime.
The forum passed the resolution just as fuel scarcity that started last week spread in the Federal Capital Territory, with many motorists queuing for hours at filling stations.
The FAAC meeting, which was chaired by the Accountant-General of the Federation, Mr. Jonah Otunla, was convened to consider and approve the statutory allocations for February.
Odaah, who is also the Commissioner of Finance, Ebonyi State, said the resolution on the fuel subsidy regime would be sent to the Nigerian Governors’ Forum for transmission to President Goodluck Jonathan.
He described the payment of fuel subsidy as a scam against some states, especially the less industrialised ones, as it had made “the rich to become richer, while the poor are becoming poorer.”
He argued that if Nigerians had not protested against the removal of fuel subsidy in January 2012, most states would have experienced significant level of development by now.
The Federal Government has a budget of N971.1bn for fuel subsidy payment in the 2014 fiscal year, same as in 2013.