Buhari administration’s subsidy spending to hit N11 trillion in 2023

The administration of the President Muhammadu Buhari could spend not less than N10.976 trillion as subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit, popularly known as petrol, from when it came to power in 2015 till May 2023.

According to the data obtained from the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited and the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), the government had spent about N6.88 trillion in subsidising the commodity.

The President and his party, the All Progressives Congress while campaigning in 2015, kicked against the fuel subsidy scheme that was implemented by the previous administration of the Peoples Democratic Party.

NEITI, in a report submitted last month to the House of Representatives ad hoc committee investigating the fuel subsidy regime from 2013 to 2022, noted that petrol was subsidised all through these years.

Figures from the report showed that fuel subsidy gulped N316.7 billion in 2015; N99 billion in 2016; N141.63 billion in 2017; N722.3 billion in 2018; N578.07 billion in 2019; and N134 billion in 2020.

Although the NEITI report did not state the amount spent in 2021 and 2022, figures obtained from NNPC indicated that fuel subsidy jumped to N1.43 trillion in 2021.

NNPC data also showed that petrol subsidy gulped N2.565 trillion between January and August this year. The oil company, however, described its subsidy spending as under-recovery.

NNPC said its under-recovery of PMS/value shortfall, otherwise called fuel subsidy, was N210.38 billion, N219.78 billion , N245.77 billion and N271.59 billion in January, February, March and April 2022 respectively.

In the months of May, June and July, petrol subsidy gulped N327.07 billion, N319.18 billion and N448.78 billion, respectively. In August this year, subsidy gulped N525.71 billion. The total sum spent on PMS subsidy during the eight months was put at N2.565 trillion.

The amount spent on subsidy in September 2022 has not been released yet by NNPC, as well as what the company could spend in the remaining three months in 2022.