In response to two fiscal policy documents being widely circulated and attributed to the presidency, which purportedly provided for an N5.4 trillion petrol subsidy for 2024 and proposed halting import duties on staple foods, drugs, and other essential items for six months, the presidency clarified their status.
A Thursday statement by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, explained that one of the documents, titled “Inflation Reduction and Price Stability (Fiscal Policy Measure, etc.) Order 2024,” was being shared as if it were an executive order signed by President Bola Tinubu, but it is still at the proposal stage. He added that the other document, a 65-page draft titled “Accelerated Stabilisation and Advancement Plan (ASAP),” containing suggestions on improving the Nigerian economy, was also still in draft form and had just been received by President Tinubu on Tuesday.
“We urge the public and the media to disregard the two documents and cease further discussions on them. None is an approved official document of the Federal Government of Nigeria. They are all policy proposals that are still subject to review at the highest level of government. Indeed, one has ‘draft’ clearly written on it,” the statement added.
Onanuga quoted the Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, saying, “It is important to understand that policymaking is an iterative process involving multiple drafts and discussions before any document is finalised,” assuring the public that the official position on the documents will be made available after comprehensive reviews and approvals are completed.
The report, not from Channels Television, which quoted one of the documents, “Inflation Reduction and Price Stability (Fiscal Policy Measures) Order 2024,” expected to have been signed in April, did not include President Tinubu’s signature. The document also allegedly included plans to waive levies on fertilizers, poultry feed, flour, and grains.
Food prices have surged in Nigeria, with food inflation reaching 40.5 percent in recent months. Rice, a staple food, has been one of the hardest hit, with prices reaching new highs of around N90,000 per bag in March and April this year.