The subsidy bill picked by the Federal Government rose by 17.1 per cent to N525.71 billion last month, the figures made available by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) NNPC confirmed at the weekend.
According to the figures, the government has paid N2.568 trillion as subsidy between January and August.
The NNPC official report submitted to the Federation Account Allocation Committee indicated that petrol subsidy rose from N448.782 billion in July 2022 to N525.71 billion in August 2022 (an increase of 17.1 per cent).
In April, the National Assembly had approved N4 trillion as petrol subsidy for this year after the government opted to delay plan to remove petrol subsidy.
The huge petrol subsidy, discrepancies in supply figures and Nigeria’s dwindling revenue have generated heated debate that put the NNPCL in the spotlight.
The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Hajia Zainab Ahmed, said that out of the N19.76 trillion Budget proposed for next year, petrol subsidy would gulp some N6.7 trillion.
With the huge debt services costs, Mrs. Ahmed said the cumulative effect of these costs could undermine any capital project implementation in 2023.
