The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited has disclosed that subsidy payment on Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), popularly called petrol was entirely removed by the Federal Government and not reduced as being insinuated.
This clarification was made by the Chief Corporate Communications Officer of the National Oil Company, Mr. Olufemi Soneye, in a statement on Wednesday.
The Punch Newspaper has reported that the company and oil marketers under the aegis of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), clashed on Tuesday, over the removal of subsidy on petrol.
This was following the statement made by the Chief Executive Officer, Financial Derivatives Company, Bismarck Rewane, during a live television programme on ChannelsTV on Sunday, that fuel subsidy was not removed but reduced.
The paper also reported that the oil marketers disclosed on Tuesday that subsidy on petrol was increasing considering the crash of the naira against the United States dollar and the cost of crude oil, stressing that PMS should sell for N1,200/litre in a free market.
However, in a swift reaction, the NNPC Limited said, the company has not clashed with any party over subsidy removal.
Soneye said, “NNPC Ltd emphasizes it has not clashed with any party. The Punch headline is deemed unfortunate. The publication sought confirmation on the alleged subsidy reduction, to which NNPC responded that subsidy has been entirely removed.”
