BY Bunmi Aduloju
President Bola Tinubu says Nigeria’s daily consumption of premium motor spirit (PMS), also known as petrol, reduced to about 30 million litres after subsidy removal.
Tinubu spoke on Friday during a meeting with a group of former lawmakers at the State House in Abuja.
He said although Nigerians are complaining about the current “petroleum crisis”, the country must achieve PMS security.
“Yes, we have fuel in the ground. But do we have the capacity to bring it up before we refine and distribute? Have we examined alternative sources of energy with all that the world has given to us?” he asked.
“When I resumed, I said the subsidy was gone. There was no subsidy in the budget handed over to me. I can’t be creative and look for magic lamp to create a budget. And ever since, we maintained that position.
“From several millions of litres (of petrol), now we are down to 30 something. We are now knowing the true consumption of how much we are taking.
“We are not here and we should not be here. And I know you are not one of them, the smugglers. Look at the prices across the countries — Cameroon, Mali, Burkina Faso, Nije, Benin Republic to Ghana – check the prices.”
On July 18, 2023, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) said petrol consumption fell to 46.38 million litres per day in June, from the average daily consumption of 65 million litres, largely due to the removal of subsidy.
‘SUBSIDY PREVENTED NIGERIA FROM INVESTING IN HOSPITALS, SCHOOLS’
Due to the subsidy cost, the president said Nigeria was unable to equip hospitals and build new classrooms.
“If we are spending this money on ourselves, I believe we will get better return, happiness, and development programme, even if we invest it in our infrastructure,” he said.
On May 29, President Bola Tinubu said the petrol subsidy regime is over.
Almost three months later, TheCable reported that Tinubu was considering a “temporary subsidy” on petrol as crude oil prices and foreign exchange rates soared.
However, Ajuri Ngelale, former presidential spokesperson, said there was no reintroduction of subsidy.
Also, on January 3, Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited denied the return of petrol subsidy, saying it had been removed entirely.
However, on April 15, Nasir el-Rufai, former governor of Kaduna state, said the federal government is spending more on petrol subsidy than before.
TheCable also reported on August 19 that Tinubu approved a request by NNPC to utilise the 2023 final dividends due to the federation to pay for the petrol subsidy — but NNPC denied the existence of petrol subsidy.
However, on the same day, the national oil company said the federal government owes it N7.8 trillion for petrol subsidy.
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