The Chief Executive of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL, Mele Kyari, on Tuesday, said that the federal government is owing the company N2.8 trillion it paid on petrol subsidy.
Kyari disclosed this to State House correspondents after he met with President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
He affirmed that the subsidy is no longer sustainable as it has made it impossible for the company to have funds to channel into its core businesses.
The NNPCL CEO, who described the announcement made by President Tinubu that subsidy is gone as belated, said the petrol queues that have resurfaced are understandable as marketers will like to understand the meaning of the president’s pronouncement.
He said that the uncertainty on the remark also caused consumers to rush for the product and causing queues.
The NNPCL boss assured that government will initiate measures to cushion the effects of the removal of subsidy.
As speaking, the Chief Executive of
Nigerian Mainstream and Downstream Regulatory Authority, Faruk Ahmed, said that with the removal of subsidy, there will be no price cap on the sale of petroleum products in the country
Ahmed said President Tinubu’s pronouncement in his inaugural speech on the removal of subsidy was in line with the law.
He said that the Federal Government has not been financing subsidy since 2022, adding, “the reality today is that government cannot afford it.”
He also said that there are ongoing conversation, stressing, “today, the country does not have money to pay for subsidy “
