The Special Adviser to the President on Information and strategy, Bayo Onanuga, stated that the $6 billion owed to oil traders by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Limited served as clear proof that President Tinubu was truthful about the removal of the fuel subsidy.
Onanuga made this remark in an X (formerly Twitter) post on Tuesday.
The presidential spokesperson stated that the debt arose because the budget did not account for the fuel subsidy, leaving the NNPC to bear the burden of the price difference caused by the devaluation of the naira and the high cost of crude oil.
I have read a series of articles attacking the Federal Government for not telling the truth about fuel subsidy payments, following NNPC Limited’s admittance it was owing suppliers some $6 billion.
“Some of the stories have been written with relish, as the authors believed they have uncovered some scoops.
“The truth is that there is no discovery. No lie uncovered. The government has been faithful to its policy that it was no longer going to pay fuel subsidies since President Tinubu announced the deregulation of the PMS sector on 29 May 2023. Since then, subsidy provisions have disappeared from the budget. It was not in the Supplementary budget of 2023, not in the 2024 budget and the amended 2024 budget.
“The NNPC cried out recently because it can no longer sustain the price differential on its balance sheet without becoming insolvent. The situation has greater implications for the ability of the three tiers of government to function as the NNPC has failed to pay into the Federation Account, the money that should go to the government,” Onanuga said.
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