The Group Managing Director of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL), Melee Kyari, has disclosed that the Federal Government owes the company N2.8 trillion for fuel subsidy payments from previous years. This disclosure was made during a meeting between President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, top government officials and stakeholders on Tuesday.
While responding to issues of funding constraints during the meeting, Kyari emphasized the need for the government to settle outstanding bills incurred from subsidy payments to enable the corporation to operate optimally.
He revealed that since the provision of N6 trillion in the 2022 budget and N3.7 trillion in 2023, the NNPC has not received any payment from the Federation. Despite this, the corporation has continued to support the subsidy from its cash flow which is straining other operations and affecting core businesses’ investment.
The NNPC boss further explained that the country cannot currently afford to pay for fuel subsidy, and that the corporation was waiting for the government to settle up to N2.8 trillion of NNPC’s cash flow from the subsidy regime.
In his inaugural speech on Monday, President Tinubu declared the end to the era of fuel subsidy, which has led to fuel scarcity and resurfacing of long queues in petrol stations across the country. However, it is essential for the government to find a way to settle outstanding subsidy payments before completely scrapping the subsidy regulations to ensure corporations like NNPC don’t bear the brunt of the non-payment.
