Fuel Subsidy Gulps N1.3 Trillion in 2010

Vanguard

4 July 2011

Fuel Subsidy Gulps N1.3 Trillion in 2010

Fuel subsidy cost the Nigerian state N1.3 trillion (about $8.38 billion) in the 2010 fiscal year alone, about 25 per cent of the entire budget expenditure for the year under review. Last year, the approved amended and supplementary budget amounted to N5.159 trillion (about $33.2 billion).

Investigations have revealed that fuel subsidy incurred by the federal government may have exceeded the N700 billion mark mid-way into the year, with indications that payments to petroleum products marketers may surpass 2010 levels by the end of the year.

Sweetcrude checks also revealed that the current state of Kerosene scarcity in Nigeria may have been deliberately contrived by petroleum products marketers through unprecedented racketeering and profiteering, and the seeming inability of the federal government to curb their wanton excesses.