The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has responded to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s announcement on Monday about the removal of fuel subsidies.
WITHIN NIGERIA previously reported that Tinubu declared during his inaugural speech at Eagles Square in Abuja that his administration would not pay fuel subsidies.
He explained that because his predecessor, Ex-President Muhammadu Buhari, did not include a provision for fuel subsidies in his 2023 budget, further payments were no longer justified.
The NNPCL held an emergency press conference at the NNPC Towers in Abuja not long after President Tinubu was sworn in, and they gave a positive nod to the latest development on subsidy, stating that the move was in the best interests of the company.
According to the company’s GCEO, Mele Kyari, the company has spent a significant portion of its profits on product subsidization.
However, Kyari assuaged Nigerians’ fears by stating that there was no need for panic buying because fuel queues had been observed in some areas of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.
According to Kyari, the company had enough product to last the next 30 days and was monitoring its supply and distribution networks throughout the country.
WITHIN NIGERIA recalls that the Federal Government announced in January, under former President Buhari’s administration, that it would cease payment of fuel subsidies by the end of June.
Mrs Zainab Ahmed, then Minister of Finance, Budget, and National Planning, revealed that the government had set aside N3.36 trillion in the 2023 fiscal period for fuel subsidy payments to cover the first six months of this year.
This, she said, corresponded to the 18-month extension announced in early 2022.