Newspaper report-No plan to remove oil subsidy, says Presidency.

THE Presidency Thursday cleared the air on speculations making the rounds that it was planning to remove oil subsidy.

In a statement in Abuja, Presidential Spokesman, Dr. Doyin Okupe maintained that President Goodluck Jonathan led administration is not considering the issue of removal of fuel subsidy in the nearest future.

Okupe said sufficient allocation for fuel subsidy has already been made in the 2013 budget.

Okupe said despite President Goodluck Jonathan’s recent remark concerning subsidy, there is no cause for alarm on removal of fuel subsidy, adding that the President was mindful of the reactions and plight of the Nigerian people.

According to him: “The President and

this administration are not insensitive to the plights of the Nigerian masses and will continue to pursue and execute policies and programmes that are in the overall interest of majority of Nigerians and that will bring the greatest good to the greatest number of our teeming population.”

“It is an undeniable fact that every responsible leadership, genuine stakeholder and patriot must be worried when a nation spends about N1 trillion, an equivalent of about 20 per cent of the national budget, on subsidy paid out to a few companies and enjoyed in the main by very few elites, while the common man benefits only minimally.”