Financial Energy Review
The Breakdown showing that N6 trillion will be on fuel subsidy for six months, N4 trillion to subsidise the naira and N300 billion to subsidise electricity in 2023.
The Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, who was lamenting over the non remittance of money to the federation account by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) said that this year, the FG will spend N6 trillion on fuel subsidy, which is a quarter of the budget. This he said is more than the entire budget of states and local governments on health this year.
“We spent N300 billion per annum to subsidise electricity which we hardly get. We are subsidising 50 per cent of electricity supply” he pointed out.
Adding that NNPCL has not remitted anything to the Federation Account since the last quarter of 2021 which has forced the country to depend mainly on import duties and taxes as revenue allocation shared by the three tiers of government.
He expressed concern over the dwindling revenue which had forced states to re-prioritise their spending and cut their expenses.
Addressing the 12th Kaduna State Council on Health Meeting yesterday at the Murtala Mohammed Square in Kaduna, El-Rufai said his government is working hard to achieve its goal of making healthcare affordable and accessible to the people, but this cannot be done without cash backing, adding that state is managing by depending on the little amount that comes from the federation account and it’s internally generated revenue.
“Our goal is to achieve universal health coverage for all residents. We hope to complete the 300-bed specialist hospital in Millennium City in the second quarter with a Nuclear Medicine Centre to help tackle the menace of cancer and serve as a source of medical tourism. A second cancer center is being built in the vicinity of Barau Dikko Teaching Hospital in Kaduna. We have built a 136-bed infection center in Mando and we are building 10 to 30-bed isolation center in our general hospitals in preparation for the next infectious disease outbreak.
“We have to make choices as a country and as a people and stop being hypocritical. Since the last quarter of 2021, the NNPC has not remitted a dime to the federation account because they are paying subsidy.
