Mele Kyari: Fuel Subsidy Regime Remains Till 2022

Group Managing Director (GMD) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mele Kyari, has said the Federal Government will sustain subsidisation of Premium Motor Spirit (popularly known as petrol) till 2022.

Speaking at a stakeholders’ hearing organised by the Senate Joint Committees on Finance, National Planning, Foreign and Local Debts, Banking, Insurance and other financial institutions and Petroleum Resources on the 2022-2024 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper (MTEF-FSP) in Abuja, said the decision to exit the subsidy regime would be determined by the outcome of the ongoing negotiations between the authorities and organised labour

Kyari, who acknowledged that an increase in the price of fuel would have a direct bearing on the wellbeing of the citizenry and national security, assured Nigerians that government would exit subsidising of product consumption once the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) becomes fully operational.

The NNPC boss spoke against the backdrop of his admission during a ministerial briefing at the Presidential Villa recently that his outfit pays between N100 and 120 billion monthly to keep the pump price of petrol at N162 per litre.

Acknowledging that the 60 million imported quantity was far above local consumption, the GMD added that the national oil firm was constrained by illicit product smuggling to neighbouring countries.

According to him, the corporation is sustaining the imports to avert scarcity.

Kyari promised to abide by the 2.3 million barrels per day in deference to the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) 2022 quota for the security of oil installations in Nigeria.

THE Comptroller-General of Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Col Hameed Ali (rtd), who also spoke at the event, disclosed that his outfit has so far generated over N1.022 trillion from excise duty on tobacco and alcoholic beverages.

He expressed optimism that he would meet the N2 trillion target by the end of the year.

The NCS chief executive said the country stands to earn huge revenue from exportation of goods and imposition of levies on locally produced carbonated drinks, adding that the service was deploying three mobile scanners, in addition to 135 E-Custom scanners for surveillance in all of the nation’s major ports to check sharp practices and boost income.

Besides, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) faulted the claim by the lawmakers that it had breached extant rules over remittance of operational surpluses into the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) in the last five years.

Its Deputy Governor (Economic Policy), Dr. Kingsley Obiora, insisted that 80 per cent of the apex bank’s operational surpluses have always been remitted to the CRF on a yearly basis in line with provisions of the Fiscal Responsibility Act.

Also, Director-General of the Budget Office of the Federation, Ben Akabueze, who pledged to plug leakages in 2022, disclosed that over N558 billion of N800 billion had been realised by independent revenue-generating agencies as of June this year.