The Federal Government has reportedly raked in N400 billion in the last 30 days following the removal of fuel subsidy, according to operators within the downstream oil and gas sector.
Chinedu Okonkwo, the National President of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, disclosed this in an interview with Daily Post.
Recall that in a meeting with oil and gas operators in February, Mele Kyari, the Group Chief Executive Officer of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited, NNPCL, had stated that the country spends N400 billion monthly on fuel subsidies.
Speaking on the state of the sector owing to the removal of the subsidy and changes in the country’s foreign exchange market, Okonkwo said that the deregulation has a long time impact.
He said the development would lead to an increase or decrease in fuel price depending on the foreign exchange rate, which is also now determined by market forces.
He added that the impact on the masses would gradually decrease by introducing Compressed Natural Gas, CNG, into the sector.
“You know how much the government is spending monthly on fuel subsidies payment, but that expenditure to the tune of dollars or Naira will be saved.
“The government has indeed reduced spending on fuel subsidies, though the thing is biting, so we have drafted an alternative in Compressed Natural Gas, CNG,” he said.
