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The Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPC Limited, Mele Kyari says the only reason Nigerians still buy Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) better known as petrol at N170 per litre is because the Federal Government subsidises the commodity.
The NNPC boss said this on Wednesday, November 9, 2022, at the Legislative Transparency and Accountability Summit organised by the House of Representatives in Abuja.
He said there is nowhere in the world where a litre of petrol is currently sold at N445 exchange rate.
“It is not possible for you to buy fuel at N170 when your actual cost is thrice that value. For instance, today, when PMS comes into this country, we transfer to marketers at N113 per litre for us to ensure N165 at the pump, so you must sell at N113 to them to be able to deliver at N165.
“That means whatever the cost, anything after that value, that is subsidy. Somebody has to pay for it. Everyone knows the price of PMS around the world. There is nowhere today that you can land a litre of PMS to the pumps at the N445 exchange rate, it is not possible,” Kyari said.
He added that “In some places, you are subsidizing up to N290 on every litre. With this regime, it is impossible for you to avoid all the wrong things that are happening. Round tripping, cross-border smuggling, document forgery-anywhere you have arbitrage, you will have these issues.”
The NNPC boss said this amid the partial scarcity of fuel in the country.
Due to this development, a litre of petrol now costs between N195 and N200 in some areas.