Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has clarified that the fuel subsidy that has resulted from the N171 landing cost as opposed to the official retail price of N145 per litre is paid by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC.
According to him, the subsidy did not come from the federal government.
Osinbajo made this known when he spoke with journalists shortly after he visited some filling stations in Apapa area of Lagos State.
“NNPC is trading in fuel; the federal government is not, at the moment, paying for any subsidy. NNPC is trading. If you are buying and selling fuel, you would have to be able to pay for it.
“So, it’s not a question of government provision for subsidy, the federal government, at the moment, isn’t paying any subsidy.
“And don’t forget that the way that the NNPC trades is that, in many cases, NNPC is actually giving fuel; there is 445, 000 barrels of fuel. So, really what you are seeing, in many cases, is more or less an exchange for PMS. So at the moment NNPC is paying the cost.”
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The vice president who expressed regret over the fuel crisis said the government was working had to ensure that it was solved.
He stressed that one of the major goals of the government was to ensure that Nigerians did not suffer as a result of fuel crisis.
“We have been here holding a meeting with major oil marketers and as you see everyone is at work trying to ensure that the petrol queues are cleared.
“We are trying to look at some of the issues and what needs to be done to ensure that things move very quickly,” Osinbajo said.
He added: “Just yesterday, Mr. President tried to see how exactly he could really work on the problems that we are experiencing and how to very quickly clear up the queues and ensure that everyone is able to have a happy holiday; that’s exactly why we are here today.
“The GMD of the NNPC is up in Abuja and I’m here with the Honourable Minister (of State for Petroleum Resources), trying to take a look at what the problems of the marketers may be and also what other issues there may be getting the products to petrol stations across the country.
“We had a very good meeting and we hope that in the next couple of days we will be able to resolve the petrol queues and l hope this rather sad episode comes to an end as quickly as possible.”
