Business
Petrol Subsidy Gulps N8.94trn In 10 Years – PPPRA
The Federal Government spent N8.94 trillion on petrol subsidy between 2006 and 2015, figures released by the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) on Monday have shown.
Data from the PPPRA showed that during the 10-year period, the government consistently spent billions of naira subsidising Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol.
According to the agency, in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010, the government spent N 257.36 billion, N271.51 billion, N630.57 billion, N469.31 billion and N667.08 billion respectively.
Also in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015, the government paid N2.104 trillion, N1.354 trillion, N1.315 trillion, N1.217 trillion and N653.51 billion respectively on petrol subsidy.
The Tide reports that the PPPRA had in March commenced the deregulation of the downstream oil sector in a bid to halt the continued payment of subsidy.
Before March, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), the sole importer of petrol into Nigeria, had been recording under- recoveries as a result of its subsidy spendings on petrol. Last week, the PPPRA gazetted a market-based pricing regime for petrol in its bid to further boost the deregulation of the downstream oil and gas sector.
Spokesperson of the agency , Kimchi Apollo, said that with the new gazette, oil marketers were now empowered to fix petrol price in accordance with the market realities.