‘Stop playing with words’, Waziri Adio hits NNPC over subsidy denial

Waiziri Adio, former Executive Secretary of the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), has asked the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL) to be transparent in its dealing. He said this while reacting to the national oil company’s response to reports that President Bola Tinubu had approved payment for subsidy. Tinubu had directed NNPC to utilise […]

Waiziri Adio, former Executive Secretary of the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), has asked the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL) to be transparent in its dealing.

He said this while reacting to the national oil company’s response to reports that President Bola Tinubu had approved payment for subsidy.

Tinubu had directed NNPC to utilise the 2023 final dividends due the federation to pay for subsidy.

But denying the report on subsidy, Umar Ajiya, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of the NNPCL, said the oil firm is only bearing what he called the “shortfall” and not subsidy.

In a series of tweets on Tuesday, Adio, who is the Executive Director of Agora Policy think-tanka, wondered why NNPC was playing with words.

“NNPCL’s waffling on petrol subsidy is so disingenuous. Oh, it is not subsidy, but a shortfall/PMS fx differential. Same difference. No subsidy was paid to any marketer. Has anyone said NNPCL paid subsidy to marketers and is it even within their remit to pay subsidy to marketers?”

“Former PPPRA was charged with approving subsidy for marketers and NNPC. Ministry of Finance was paying marketers after verification of claims. Only difference with NNPC was that it deducted its subsidy and other claims from money for crude given to it for domestic use (DCA).

“It is not NNPCL’s responsibility, by practice or by law, to pay subsidy to marketers. That answer to a question not asked is at best a hollow attempt at deflection.

“Saying there is no subsidy because selling PMS below landing cost is a transaction between the company and the Federation (repaid or netted off) is a lame play with words that take everyone for a moron. NNPCL can use this free advice: when in a hole, stop digging,” he tweeted.