FG Spends Petrol N101.65bn on Petrol Subsidy in the First Quarter

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) said it spent N101.65 billion on petrol subsidy in the first three months of the year.

In its latest Monthly Financial and Operations report released for the month of March, the corporation described the spending as under-recovery.

A break down of the report shows N43.31 billion was spent in January while N20.68 billion and N37.66 billion were spent in February and March respectively.

The amount was spent before the Federal Government halted subsidy in April when global oil prices plunged due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Speaking on subsidy, the former President, Association of National Accountants of Nigeria, Dr Sam Nzekwe, said “There is no need for subsidy again because they are using it to make unnecessary demands and this is the corruption that we are talking about. They are also using it to finance corruption too.

“The money that they would have used for other sectors or even send to FAAC is being used for subsidy and we cannot actually quantify its impact on the masses; rather, it is used to enrich a very few.”

Nzekwe urged the PPPRA to ensure subsidy does not return and encouraged the government to liberalise the downstream oil sector in order to allow other marketers to participate in fuel importation.

He said, “The NNPC should not be the only one importing petrol. The downstream sector must not continue like this. Other players should be allowed to play in the space too. The sector should be fully liberalised.

“And it is because the NNPC is the only one importing and almost running everything that makes it simple for it to say whatever it wanted as expenses on subsidy or under-recovery. This should not continue.”