EXCLUSIVE: Petrol subsidy gulps N271bn in April as NNPC declares ZERO remittance for the 4th time

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited has deducted another N271.13 billion as a shortfall for the importation of petrol (subsidy) in April 2022.

Subsidy or under-recovery is the underpriced sales of premium motor spirit (PMS), better known as petrol.

So far, NNPC has spent N947.53 billion on petrol subsidy this year — more than half of 2021 subsidy spending.

NNPC said this in its monthly presentation to the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) meeting on Tuesday, April 24.

The FAAC document obtained by TheCable showed that this is the fourth time the oil company will not remit any fund to the federation account in 2022 — as subsidy payments continue to deplete revenue.

NNPC also said it would deduct N371 billion for the shortfall in May 2022 during next month’s FAAC meeting.

“The Value Shortfall on the importation of PMS recovered from April 2022 proceeds is N 271,125,127, 487,58 while the outstanding balance carried forward is N371 billion,” the document reads.

“The estimated Value Shortfall of N 874 503 649 663 98 bn (consisting of arrears of N 371 billion, plus estimated April 2022 Value Short Fall of N 503 313 767 828 14 is to be recovered from May 2022 proceed due for sharing at June 2022 FAAC Meeting.”

In January, February and March 2022, petrol subsidy gulped 210.38 billion, N219.78 billion, and N245.77 billion, respectively.

Payments for petrol subsidies have continued to dwindle federation revenue.

This year alone, the federal government has budgeted to spend N4 trillion on costly petrol subsidies — as a result of high global oil prices due to the Russia-Ukraine war.

In the month under review, the report said NNPC lifted overall crude oil of 8.80 million barrels (export domestic crude) in March 2022, representing a 10 per cent decrease relative to the 9.77 million barrels lifted in February 2022.