FG Keeps Mum On When It Will Stop Fuel Subsidy

The Federal Government has declined to give a specific date when answering questions on when it will stop subsidizing the Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) also known as petrol in the country.

The government spoke through its agency, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), where it claimed that the government spent between N100 billion and N120 billion every month to subsidize the commodity.

The NNPC Managing Director (GMD), Mele Kyari, made the disclosure at the weekly presidential ministerial media briefing on Thursday at the State House in Abuja, the Nigeria capital.

The GMD lamented the burden upon the NNPC by the ongoing subsidization of the cost of petrol in the country, adding that it was overwhelming.

Kyari added that Nigerians will have to pay for the actual cost of the product sooner or later, as a result of the amount of money the government is paying on subsidy.

He disclosed that the product is being sold below the importation cost, which has made them pay for the differences.

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However, the NNPC Boss distanced himself from calling the shortfall payment as subsidy, stressing that the fund was paid to maintain the pump price of petrol at the current level.

Kyari stated that the NNPC can no longer bear the monumental cost, adding that market forces must be allowed to determine the pump price of petrol in the country in the nearest future.