Nigeria Saved N15trn From Petrol Subsidy Removal – Finance Minister

Finance Minister, Taiwo Oyedele, has said savings from petrol subsidy yielded N15.8 trillion between June 2023 and December 2025.

Speaking at a media conference on the scorecard of the Tinubu administration, on Wednesday, the Minister said the savings were reflected through higher revenue collections.

“Between June 2023 and December 2025, subsidy savings mobilised the sum of N15.8 trillion in resources for the federation,” Oyedele said.

He said N5.4 trillion accrued to the Federal Government, while N10.4 trillion was shared among states and local governments.

The minister added that the Federal Government generated N3.1 trillion in incremental independent revenue, mainly through remittances from government-owned entities.

He said incremental borrowing contributed N11.9 trillion, which would have been significantly higher without the fiscal space created by the reforms.

Oyedele said the Federal Government’s total incremental resources during the period stood at N20.4 trillion.

He explained that the resources partly funded N30.64 trillion in incremental expenditure during the period.

According to him, N9.39 trillion went into wage adjustments, minimum wage increases and allowances for public servants.

He added that N9.37 trillion was spent on external debt servicing, while N6.5 trillion went into strategic infrastructure.

Oyedele said that 58 per cent of the incremental resources came from borrowing, 27 per cent from subsidy savings and 15 per cent from other revenue.

He said the reforms were not introduced primarily to raise revenue, but to tackle entrenched corruption and distortions.

The minister said the scorecard assessed 25 indicators across fiscal sustainability, external stability, investment climate, social impact, growth and productivity.

He said that the assessment compared Nigeria’s May 2023 baseline with verified mid-2026 data and projected outcomes without reforms.

Oyedele said that the reforms had improved workers’ welfare, with the minimum wage rising from N30,000 to N70,000.

According to him, NELFUND has supported more than 1.5 million students through affordable student loans.

The minister said cash transfers, subsidised mortgages and agricultural interventions had also supported vulnerable households.

He said the new Tax Act exempted low-income earners and small businesses while simplifying the tax system.

Oyedele said that the reforms also prevented deeper economic problems that would have affected states, businesses and households.

He said that 27 states struggled to pay salaries in May 2023, compared with none currently facing such challenges.

The minister said the government estimated that at least 30 states could have faced salary payment difficulties without the reforms.

He said the official exchange-rate premium over the parallel market had fallen from above 60 per cent to below five per cent.