Fuel subsidy, importation: NNPCL under a lot of pressure – Tonye Cole

The co-founder of Sahara Group and the All Progressives Congress, APC, gubernatorial candidate at the 2023 governorship election in Rivers State, Tony Cole has said the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL, is under a lot of pressure over the burden of fuel subsidy payment and product importation.

Cole disclosed this during a recent interview with Channels Television.

His comments come amid the controversy surrounding whether the Nigerian government is paying fuel subsidy or not.

Recently, NNPCL insisted it does not pay fuel subsidies but rather covers the shortfalls in the importation of the product.

Reacting to the development, Cole said “NNPC carries a huge burden when it comes to the issue of making sure that petrol is available for the masses.

“NNPCL is absolving the true cost of petrol products. We have already had many discussions on whether we are having a subsidy or not.

“A lot of earnings of NNPCL are already going into that. This in essence begins to affect other things, including its cash-calls and the ability of the firm to do what it needs to do.

“NNPC is under a lot of pressure and that pressure can be directly traced to the issue of the importation of petroleum products and what you will call subsidy or no subsidy.”

Recall that in May last year, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu announced fuel subsidy removal which saw the product rise to over N600 per litre from around N238.

Meanwhile, a recent figure projected by the Major Energies Marketers Association of Nigeria recently showed that the cost of PMS was N1,117 per liter