The Minister of Budget and National Planning, Abubakar Bagudu has explained that Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL, is using fuel subsidy savings to sustain the product’s current pump price.
The minister made this known on Channels Television on Saturday, noting that Nigeria’s 2024 budget did not have an arrangement for fuel subsidy.
When asked about the amount saved from fuel subsidy since its removal in June 2024, he explained that NNPCL’s contribution has been affected because fuel import outweighed the pump price sold to Nigerians.
“That is the issue. If NNPCL is supposed to contribute the most it cannot contribute because I have to use the money to import fuel. NNPCL is obligated to provide energy security. Consequently what they are to provide is affected,” he said.
This comes amid uncertainties surrounding the government’s fuel subsidy payment despite its removal in June 2023, which led to the increase in the product pump price to above N600 per liter from N238.