FG disclaims alleged return of fuel subsidy payments

The Ministry of Petroleum Resources and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) have refuted the claims by individuals and groups making the news round, that subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol, has returned. The government also challenged those who make this argument to provide evidence to justify their allegations, stressing that since President Bola Tinubu had declared the end of subsidy on petrol, the situation remains so. The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, stressed that fuel subsidy was a sensitive issue, but noted that the government had made its position known. The NNPC also said it was recovering its full cost on the petroleum products imported into Nigeria, and insisted that petrol subsidy is no longer tenable. The NNPCL is the sole importer of petrol into Nigeria currently. Their comments came as oil marketers backed the claim by the immediate past Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, that the Federal Government had resumed the payment of subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit also called petrol. Oil dealers also pointed out that the current cost of PMS at filling stations should be around N900/litre if there were no subsidy on the commodity. This price, according to them, is because of the recent appreciation of the naira against the United States dollar.