Femi Falana renowned Nigerian human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), stated during an interview on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics program that the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) pushed the Nigerian government to remove the petrol subsidy. He described the decision as not a domestic policy choice but a condition imposed by these international financial institutions, emphasizing that no country in the world has fully abolished subsidies.

Falana specifically said: “As a matter of fact, if I must say this, it was the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that insisted that the government must remove all subsidies.” He criticized the policy for causing economic hardship, including inflation and higher living costs, and noted that even Western countries like the US, UK, and France maintain subsidies for sectors like agriculture and electricity. This aligns with his long-standing opposition to subsidy removal, as seen in his past criticisms of similar IMF advice in 2022 and 2024.