President Bola Tinubu’s decision to remove fuel subsidies has received backing from the Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigeria National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, Mele Kyari.
It was reported that Tinubu plans to end fuel subsidies after announcing during his inauguration speech that he would accept the recommendation of the previous administration in that direction.
His predecessor, Muhammadu Buhari, had recommended that subsidies be phased out after the first half (H1) of 2023, disclosing that fuel was only subsidized for the first six months of this year in the 2023 budget.
Tinubu echoed Buhari’s administration’s stance that fuel should no longer be subsidized beyond June 2023, and Kyari stated that the decision will affect the operation of the NNPC positively.
NNPC will become a viable business entity should the fuel subsidy be removed, as assured by Tinubu, Kyari said during a briefing on Monday.
“We have been funding the subsidy from the cash flow of the NNPC since government is unable to defray the costs of subsidy that is due to the cooperation and we believe that this will free resources for the NNPC to continue to do the great work that this company will do for our country, and it allows us to continue to function as a very commercial entity that will work on this development,” Kyari said.
He went on to assure Nigerians that they shouldn’t buy fuel in panic after queues resurfaced in petrol stations on Monday.
“We would like to assure Nigerians that we have sufficient supply of petroleum product, particularly premium motor spirit in our country. And there is no reason to panic.
“We understand people will be scared of potential changes to price of petrol, but that is not enough for people to rush to fuel stations to buy more than what they need,” Kyari stated.
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