Even as the nation awaits the time-table for the implementation of its plans to stop subsidising the pump price of petroleum products, investigations have revealed that a whopping N1.2Trillion was released by the feral government to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and petroleum products marketers as subsidy between 2006 and 2008.
Sources confirmed to Shipping Position Weekly that between N255.7Billion and N655Billion was released by the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
Reports of investigations into the activities of the downstream sector of the nation’s petroleum sector revealed specifically that the former administration released N255.7 billion (or about $2.03 billion) which is about 1.4 percent of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2006 while about N290.5 billion (or $2.3 billion) or about 1.3 percent of the nation’s GDP in 2007.Figures of subsidy for 2008 stood at an all- time- high of N655 billion.
The controversial report which emanated from the Petroleum, Product Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) however alleged that operators have over the years engaged in sharp practices in the remittance of the monies realised from the sale of about 1.6 million barrels per day (mbpd) of crude oil at the international market, saying that the proceeds were not remitted into the nation’s coffers.
The report further revealed that Federal Government provides N88.2 per litre of crude oil price at $140 per barrel in 2008, at a time the equivalent landing cost in Nigeria was N145 per litre and eventually sold at N70 per litre; an indication of N75 per litre subsidy.
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