NNPC in $707-mln illegal payment: report

ABUJA, April 27, 2018 – The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) illegally paid NGN 216 billion (USD 707.4 million) in fuel subsidies over 2017, according to a Senate investigation released Thursday.

The probe said the funds should be reimbursed to the government and further subsidies should be halted.

“We have neither seen nor received the report. It is when we see it and analyse it that we will officially respond,” an NNPC spokesman told Reuters.

Private importers buy refined products at international market rates, sell them in Nigeria at capped market rates and then collect the cost difference from the NNPC. However, private companies mostly stopped importing petrol after the government scrapped subsidy payments to help them sell at the capped price, thus leaving NNPC to import 90% or more of Nigeria’s consumption.

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