Femi Adesina, Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to President Muhammadu Buhari, has confessed that fuel subsidy fraud has persisted under his principal’s watch. 

“The truth that nobody can deny is that that fraud has stayed for so long,” Mr Adesina admitted while responding to questions on why the Buhari regime has retained the controversial policy despite labelling the scheme prior to assuming power in 2015.

Mr Adesina said on Channels TV said “each time there is an effort to fight the fraud in the subsidy regime you have to contend with Labour, the people. That’s the social sense of it.”

Mr Buhari, who also doubles as Nigeria’s petroleum minister, had berated payment of petroleum subsidies while campaigning to become president in 2015, vowing to eradicate the scheme.

More than seven years down the line, the corruption-riddled payout persists.

Finance minister, Zainab Ahmed, has however, said fuel subsidy payment by the federal government will be stopped in June 2023.

Mrs Ahmed explained that the 2023 budget covers N3.36 trillion for fuel subsidy for the first six months of the year.