Petrol Subsidy: FG owing NNPC N2.8trn  — Kyari

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has revealed that the Federal Government is owing the national oil company a total sum of N2.8 trillion spent on petrol subsidy from its cash flow.

Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO), Mele Kyari made this known on Tuesday while speaking with the media on the sideline of his meeting with President Bola Tinubu in Abuja.

According to him, the subsidy payment is not sustainable as it has denied the national oil company the fund to conduct its operations.

Kyari said, “We are waiting for them (FG) to settle N2.8 trillion of NNPC’s cash flow from the subsidy regime and we can’t continue to build this.

“Since the provision of subsidy payment of N6 trillion and another N3.7trillion in 2022 and 2023 respectively, we have not received any payment whatsoever from the federation.

“That means they (the Federal Government) are unable to pay, and we have continued to support this subsidy from the cash flow of the NNPC. That is, when we net off our fiscal obligations of taxes and royalties, there is still a balance that we are funding from our cash flow. And that has become very difficult, and it is affecting our other operations,” the GCEO said.

“We are not able to keep some of the cash to invest in our core businesses. And the end result is that it can be a huge challenge for the company, and we have highlighted this severally to the government that they must compensate and pay back NNPC for the money that we have spent on the subsidy.

“So, today the country does not have the money to pay for subsidy. There is an incremental value that will come from it. But it is not an issue of whether you can do it or not because today we cannot afford it and they are not able to pay our bill. That comes to how much the federation owes the NNPC now.

“Today, we are waiting for them to settle up to N2.8 trillion of NNPC’s cash flow from the subsidy regime and we cannot continue to build this.”

Speaking on the nationwide fuel scarcity, the NNPCL’s GCEO emphasised that the marketers are trying to interpret the pronouncement of President Tinubu, blaming consumers for the panic buying based on their understanding of the statement of the new helmsman.

Kyari emphasised that the government is putting up measures to cushion the effects of the petrol subsidy removal by end of June, 2023.