The Secretary of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Abuja-Suleja, Mohammed Shuaibu, stated this, adding that though the Federal Government and NNPC had claimed that there was no subsidy on petrol, the latest figures proved otherwise.

As crisis continues to rock Nigeria’s oil sector, it has been revealed that fuel subsidy currently gulps over N700billion monthly under the Bola Tinubu-led Nigerian government.

The Secretary of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Abuja-Suleja, Mohammed Shuaibu, stated this, adding that though the Federal Government and NNPC had claimed that there was no subsidy on petrol, the latest figures proved otherwise

He said petrol subsidy was over N700billion monthly considering the landing cost of the commodity as revealed by MEMAN.

Speaking with PUNCH, he said, “Petrol price is determined by the forces of demand and supply in the international market. When there is a global price increase, we should experience it in Nigeria. Therefore the N1,117/litre is not just based on our foreign exchange rate, but also the global PMS cost. The sole importer of this product is NNPC and the company is not telling us the truth.

“But data sourced by our counterparts, the major marketers, showed clearly that the landing cost of petrol is above N1,100/litre. This means that the monthly subsidy has crossed N700bn. That also means we should be prepared so that any time the price of petrol jumps, we should not be surprised because they have already told us,” Shuaibu stated.

It would be recalled that SaharaReporters reported that fuel landing cost was put at N1,117 per litre for Premium Motor Spirit, raising issues on accountability around subsidy payments in the country

Earlier, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, met with officials of Dangote refinery, Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission and Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority.

The meeting in Abuja on Monday bordered on the recent concerns between Dangote refinery and oil sector regulators and operators.

There are expectations that commencement of activities by Dangote refinery will ease pressure on imports of fuel, although the recent disagreements between Dangote and Oil marketers put that in a limbo.

Also, the House of Representatives inaugurated an investigative committee to look into the non-availability of crude oil to domestic refineries and allegations of deliberate hike in the cost of the product for profiteering.

Meanwhile, the IPMAN official insisted that if government was not subsidising petrol, it should have allowed the full deregulation of the downstream sector.

There continues to be opacity around Nigeria’s subsidy bill amid opacity around Nigeria’s oil sector.