The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has reacted to the announcement on Monday by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on fuel subsidy removal.
OsunDaily News reported earlier that during his inaugural speech at the Eagles Square in Abuja, Tinubu declared that his administration would not pay fuel subsidies.
He explained that the 2023 budget projected by his predecessor, Ex-President Muhammadu Buhari, made no provision for fuel subsidy, so further payment was no longer justifiable.
Not long after President Tinubu was sworn in, the NNPCL held an emergency press conference at the NNPC Towers, Abuja, where they gave a positive nod to the latest development on subsidy, stating that the move was in the best interest of the company.
According to the GCEO of the company, Mele Kyari, the company has been spending a substantial amount of its profits on the subsidy of the product
Kyari, however, allayed the fears of Nigerians saying that there was no need for panic buying as fuel queues had been noticed in some areas of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.
According to Kyari, the company had enough product to go around the country for the next 30 days, adding that it was monitoring its supply and distribution networks around the country.
OsunDaily News recalls that under former President Buhari’s administration, the Federal Government announced in January that it would stop the payment of fuel subsidy by the end of June.
The then Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, disclosed that in the 2023 fiscal period, the government had made provisions of N3.36 trillion for fuel subsidy payment to cover the first six months of this year.
This, she stated, was in line with the 18-month extension announced in early 2022.
