The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Muhammad Idris, said one billion litres of Nigeria’s petrol, representing 53 per cent were smuggled out through the nation’s porous borders to benefit those not paying tax to the country.
The Minister, who disclosed this during an Iftar (Breaking of Fast) with some media executives and practitioners in Kano, said the country recorded a drop in the domestic consumption of fuel by 53 per cent after the removal of fuel subsidy.
He said the removal of the fuel subsidy was necessary because those not paying tax were benefiting from the subsidy more than Nigerians.
According to him, “the domestic consumption of petrol has gone down by about 53%, meaning that over a billion litres of fuel that we used to consume during pre-subsidy removal is now gone. And the question you will ask yourself is: Where has this fuel been going?
“How suddenly is it that domestic consumption has gone down by 53 per cent? It means that this petrol was finding its way out of our porous borders for the benefit of those who are not paying tax to this country.
“It doesn’t make sense to continue to subsidise somebody else’s home when your roof is leaking, your window is broken, and your child has not gone to school. You have to subsidise yourself before you subsidise somebody else. The benefit of that is that, already, consumption has gone down by over 1 billion litres, representing about 53 per cent. Why is that so?” he said.
On the ailing refineries in the country, the Minister said the Port Harcourt refinery would begin production next week and others would follow suit in no distant time to stop importation of fuel into the country.
The minister also said the government had deactivated over 6,000 illegal refineries, with over 4,000 of the illegal pipelines disconnected.