Fuel Subsidy Removal: Details Of Tinubu’s Meeting With NNPCL Boss Emerges

The Chief Executive of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL, Mele Kyari, has disclosed that the federal government is owing the company N2.8 trillion it paid on petrol subsidy.

Kyari on Tuesday told State House correspondents, after his meeting with President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, that the fuel subsidy is no longer sustainable, Naija News learnt.

He explained that the subsidy regime has made it difficult for the company to invest money into other important businesses for the government.

Kyari noted that the President’s pronouncement on the removal of the fuel subsidy on Monday was belated, adding that the fuel queues that have resurfaced are understandable because the situation is uncertain.

While making a case for fuel marketers, the NNPCL boss said they would like to understand better what the President means with his pronouncement of the removal of the subsidy.

Kyari, however, assured that government will initiate measures to cushion the effects of the removal of subsidy.

Also speaking was the Chief Executive of Nigerian Mainstream and Downstream Regulatory Authority, Faruk Ahmed, who said Tinubu’s pronouncement on the removal of fuel subsidy was in line with the law.

According to him, there will be no price cap on the sale of petroleum products in the country, noting that the Federal Government has not been financing subsidy since 2022.

Ahmed added that “The reality today is that government cannot afford it.” noting that there are ongoing conversations, because, “Today, the country does not have money to pay for subsidy “

Recall that Tinubu had on Monday during his inauguration declared that fuel subsidy is gone, a development that has caused fuel scarcity queues to resurface in various parts of the country.