Subsidy Removal Will Not Affect Bridging Fund – PEF

The Petroleum Equalization Fund (PEF) will continue to operate even after government stops payment of fuel subsidy, Executive Secretary of the fund Mrs. Adefunke Sharon Kasali has said.
Speaking last week during a visit to the Daily Trust headquarters in Abuja, Kasali said the fund continued to pay for equalization and bridging of petroleum products even after the federal government attempted to completely stop payment of subsidy.

The Petroleum Equalization Fund (PEF) will continue to operate even after government stops payment of fuel subsidy, Executive Secretary of the fund Mrs. Adefunke Sharon Kasali has said.
Speaking last week during a visit to the Daily Trust headquarters in Abuja, Kasali said the fund continued to pay for equalization and bridging of petroleum products even after the federal government attempted to completely stop payment of subsidy.
She said government still considers the functions of the board very relevant, pending when some of the infrastructural deficit in the downstream oil sector is met.
"When government took out the subsidy, you find that PEF still functions in those weeks and days, the intend for PEF, was not government to subsidise PEF, the intend was for the consumers to pay a certain amount of money to make sure that everybody who is using the products get to buy it at the same price, " Kasali said.
She said by leaving the provision of the fund in the redrafted Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) sent to the National Assembly, government has considered the fund relevant to the operation of the downstream oil sector.
"Equalisation Fund is popular in the world; in some part of the World it is called tax paid for everybody to enjoy the same price," the ES said.
She said the board has brought many innovations in the systems that made it difficult for marketers to commit any scam. One of the innovations called Project Aquila shows the actual amount of trucks that load products par day.
"By the end of this year, we are going to phase out completely the manual loading; there will be no loading for manual trucks. We have put infrastructure in about 42 depots, they have servers, VSATs and we are implementing cyber optic network now. We have radio networks; we actually have like three tier network coverage," she said.