By Adadareporters
About N400bn has so far yielded to the purse of of the federal government as a result of the removal of subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol, since May 31, 2023.
Recall that President Bola Tinubu announced the removal during his inaugural speech on May 29, 2023.
The proceeds were announced by oil marketers on Thursday. The marketers further said there was a high possibility for the cost of petrol to rise in July, going by the recent floating of the naira against the United States dollar by the Tinubu government.
According to Chinedu Okonkwo, the national president, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, “Right now they (the government) are making money. At least with this removal of subsidy, the government has racked in hundreds of billions, whether in naira or dollar. This is because every month we know how much they lose before.”
Okonkwo told newsmen that marketers had been told how much the NNPCL was spending on subsidy monthly, referring to the comments of the firm’s group chief executive, Mele Kyari, during a meeting with oil sector operators in February.
Kyari had said, “Today, by law and the provisions of the Appropriation Act, there is a subsidy on the supply of petroleum products, particularly PMS imports into our country. In current data terms, three days ago, the landing cost was around N315/litre.
“Our customers are here; we are transferring to each of them at N113/litre. That means there is a difference of close to N202 for every litre of PMS we import into this country. In computation, N202 multiplied by 66.5 million litres, multiplied by 30 will give you over N400bn of subsidy every month.”
Okonkwo stated that the oil dealers were holding meetings about this: “We are holding meetings with a lot of people who are interested in commencing PMS imports. We are not resting on our oars about this.”
