More than six billion dollars in unpaid petroleum import bills was inherited by the Tinubu administration, according to the Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Abubakar Bagudu.
Bagudu said the debt was among the major challenges confronting the government when it assumed office and contributed to the foreign exchange crisis and declining investor confidence.
Speaking in Abuja while assessing the impact of the administration’s economic reforms, the minister said the government had to take difficult measures, including ending costly subsidy regimes and reforming the foreign exchange market.
He said the reforms were also designed to rebuild confidence in the economy, attract investment and strengthen domestic production.
Bagudu cited the government’s support for domestic refining as part of efforts to reduce Nigeria’s reliance on imported petroleum products.
He acknowledged that the country still had a long way to go, saying Nigeria was “nowhere near where we want to be” on revenue, subsidy savings and economic growth.
“One day he was paralysed when he discovered that we have inherited over $6 billion of unpaid petroleum imports. He said, we don’t even have the foreign exchange. So actually, NNPC was borrowing money to import. That’s how ridiculous it was”.
Bagudu urged Nigerians and other stakeholders to support the reforms, saying improved revenue and investor confidence remained essential to sustainable economic growth.
