Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has clarified that Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and not the Federal Government pays for the fuel subsidy that has emerged with the N171 landing cost as against the official retail price of N145.
He made this known in an interview with newsmen in Apapa Lagos declaring that since the NNPC buys the fuel, it bears the cost.
“NNPC is trading in fuel; the Federal Government is not, at the moment, paying for any subsidy,” he declared.
“NNPC is trading. 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.”
Meanwhile, a combined team of the NNPC and the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) with security agents on have uncovered illegal reservoirs of fuel in Abuja.
Speaking at the site of the mini depot, the Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Dr Maikanti Baru, said it was saddening to make such discoveries in the city center when less than 500 meters away, motorists were on endless queues.
NAN reports that hundreds of jerry cans, 200-liter drums, and 500 liter tanks were uncovered in a sting operation by the team in the city center.
According to Baru, the perpetrators have caused untold pain and hardship on Nigerians during a crucial season as Christmas.
“We got an intelligence report of these mini depots and as you can see, these golf cars that are supposed to have 40 litres have tanks that can take 200 liters of petrol,” he said.
“This other one is a mini depot. Although some of the products are diesel, the DPR says it is unauthorised. We have over 50 days supply of diesel and so there is no reason to hoard the product.”
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