The Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Mele Kyari, said the Federal Government removed subsidy on petrol because of fraud.
Kyari said some cabals which he failed to identify perpetrated the fraud in the oil industry.
He said, “The crude oil is a global commodity and its price is not hidden. Everyone can calculate and know how much the cost of every final product from the crude at the international market is. Since the inception of the country, the government has been paying subsidy on petrol to make it cheaper for Nigerians to buy below the cost price. This subsidy is designed to assist the masses of Nigeria; that is the intention, but in reality, the masses are not the beneficiaries. First, the masses are not the owners of the exotic cars buying fuel, owning the filling stations and doing the oil business. This subsidy that the government has been paying over the years is the root of all the atrocities and fraud committed in this country. If you look at it from 2006 till 2020, we have spent over N10tn on fuel subsidy. Apart from that, there is also a subsidy on foreign currencies. Everybody knows how much is dollar in the market, but the government is also subsidising it. So, this and the fuel subsidy within this period is around N14tn to N15tn. What was happening with the subsidy is that some marketers were smuggling fuel to other neighbouring countries because it was cheaper in Nigeria due to the subsidy. Another one is those who use fake documents and bring to the government to collect subsidy for fuel they never imported and the previous government was paying them. So, it was not the masses of Nigeria that were enjoying this subsidy except some cabals, who are rich and powerful.”