The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu, has clarified comments credited to him over the ₦1.4 trillion under recovery fund spent by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation NNPC annually on fuel imports.
The Minister noted that the NNPC is in the best position to give the exact under-recovery figures.
The government uses “under-recovery” figure to refer to the subsidy it pays on petrol imports.
The Minister had earlier said the country now spends about ₦1.4 trillion annually on subsidy, a significantly higher figure than the ₦774 million daily spending the NNPC have a month earlier.
In his words:
“It is time for Nigeria to harness alternative fuel sources like Liquefied Petroleum Gas LPG as under-recovery from the importation and sale of petrol at the government regulated price of ₦145 per liter has hit ₦1.4 trillion.”
However, the Minister has come out to debunk making such claims noting that the NNPC was in the best position to give the accurate figures of the amount of under-recovery involved because the body was importing most of the petrol retailed in Nigeria.
Recall that the national assembly has also called for an investigation into the under-recovery fund spent by the NNPC on fuel imports into the country noting that such funds were not provided for in the 2017 budget.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) was established on April 1, 1977.
In addition to its exploration activities, the Corporation has powers and operational interests in refining, petrochemicals and products transportation as well as marketing.