NNPC, not FG, bears cost of subsidy - Osinbajo
Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo says the Nigerian
National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) bears the cost of fuel subsidy and not
the federal government.
NAN reports that the vice-president clarified this
on Monday while answering questions from journalists after visiting the Oando
and Total depot in Apapa, Lagos.
“NNPC is trading in fuel; the federal government
is not, at the moment, paying for any subsidy. NNPC is trading,” he said.
“If you are buying and selling fuel, you would
have to be able to pay for it. So, it’s not a question of government provision
for subsidy, the federal government, at the moment, isn’t paying any subsidy.
“And don’t forget that the way that the NNPC
trades is that, in many cases, NNPC is actually giving fuel; there is 445,000
barrels of fuel.
“So really what you are seeing, in many cases, is
more or less an exchange for PMS. So at the moment NNPC is paying the cost.”
While speaking at a press conference on Sunday,
Maikanti Baru, NNPC group managing director, had said that the landing cost of
petrol is now N171 as against the official retail price of N145.
TheCable had reported that this would mean that
the federal government would have to pay N40.70 as subsidy on every litre of
petrol imported to retain the retail price of N145.
The Cable
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