The Federal Government has so far saved about N400bn as a result of the removal of subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol, since May 31, 2023, when the initiative was officially implemented, oil marketers stated on Thursday.
Also, the oil dealers stated that there was a high possibility for the cost of petrol to rise in July, going by the recent floating of the naira against the United States dollar by the Federal Government.
On Friday, Chinedu Okonkwo, National President of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, disclosed this in an interview with DAILY POST.
“Right now they (the government) are making money. At least with this removal of subsidy, the government has racked in hundreds of billions, whether in naira or dollar. This is because every month we know how much they lose before,” Chinedu Okonkwo, stated.
Recall that in a meeting with oil and gas operators in February, Mele Kyari, the Group Chief Executive Officer of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited, NNPCL, had stated that the country spends N400 billion monthly on fuel subsidies.
Speaking on the state of the sector owing to the removal of the subsidy and changes in the country’s foreign exchange market, Okonkwo said that the deregulation has a long time impact.
According to him, the development would either lead to an increase in fuel price or a decrease depending on the market-determined price of forex.
He added that the impact on the masses would gradually decrease by introducing Compressed Natural Gas, CNG, into the sector.
“You know how much the government is spending monthly on fuel subsidies payment, but that expenditure to the tune of dollars or Naira will be saved.
“The government has indeed reduced spending on fuel subsidies, though the thing is biting, so we have drafted an alternative in Compressed Natural Gas, CNG,” he said.
