Human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, has alleged that the removal of Nigeria’s fuel subsidy was not a homegrown decision but one forced by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.

Speaking on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics, Falana argued that no country in the world has completely abolished subsidies, noting that advanced nations like the US, UK, and France still subsidize key sectors such as electricity and agriculture.

“It was the World Bank and the IMF that insisted the government must remove all subsidies,” Falana stated.

President Bola Tinubu announced the removal of petrol subsidies during his inauguration on May 29, 2023, and shortly after, the Central Bank of Nigeria unified the foreign exchange market.

Falana said both policies have worsened inflation, raised the cost of living, and deepened economic hardship for millions of Nigerians.

He also criticized the government’s plan to introduce a new five percent fuel surcharge, insisting that funds already owed to the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA) must first be accounted for.

According to him, the FERMA Act of 2007 established a five percent fuel user charge, with 40% allocated to federal roads and 60% to state roads. But he alleged that despite deductions, the funds were never remitted.

“By 2022, even the Senate confirmed that over one trillion naira was owed to FERMA,” Falana revealed. “Before introducing new levies, the government must tell Nigerians what happened to the earlier deductions.”

The activist further warned that introducing another surcharge would amount to multiple taxation, worsening the burden on struggling citizens.

He also urged the government to end the dollarisation of the economy, stressing that rejecting the naira for local transactions is a criminal offence under Nigerian law.