By Seun Adams The Minister of Finance, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed over the weekend said it is not in the immediate agenda of federal government to remove fuel subsidy. Across the country over the weekend, the long queue for fuel has bolstered fear and concern that subsidy will be soon be removed, as motorists in Abuja and Lagos have jacked up cost of transportation. The Minister’s revelation followed a a tripartite meeting between Ahmed, the CBN Governor, Mr. Godwin Emiefele and the Minister of National Planning, Chief Udoma Udo Udoma, at the sideline of briefing at the World Bank Conference, holding in Washington, USA. According to the Minister, removal of fuel subsidy is not in the ofing because government has not found alternative subsidy to the subsidy, stressing that the subsidy cannot be removed without an alternative social safety net package. She said the IMF has expressed reservation on how the issue of fuel removal in the country will always be handled, adding that it is the opinion of the corporate body that it should be removed so the resource from there will be channelled to other immediate development and pressing needs of Nigerians. In principle, Ahmed said that is a fact but however, government has no plans to remove the subsidy because there is no buffer plan to emplace to cushion the impact of the removal. The Minister said discussion is ongoing at the conference on how to mitigate the impact of climate change and energy through additional financing assistance.