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Comptroller General of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Col. Hameed Ibrahim Ali on Thursday said that over 38 million litres of PMS released in excess of actual consumption into the market finds its way out of the country daily.
Ali, who spoke at an interactive session with the House of Representatives Committee on Finance on the 2023-2025 Medium Term Expenditure Frame and Fiscal Strategy Paper, question why the NNPC releases about 98 million litres of PMS into the market daily when they estimated about 60 million litres as actual daily consumption.
The Customs boss, who was reacting to questions from the lawmakers on the proposed subsidy payment for 2022 and the over N11 trillion deficit expected, said: “I remember that last year, we spoke about this. Unfortunately, this year, we are talking about subsidy again. The over N11 trillion we are going to take as debt, more than half of it is going for subsidy.
“The issue is not about smuggling of petroleum products. I have always argue this with NNPC. If we are consuming 60 million litres of PMS per day by their own computation, why would you allow the release of 98 million litres per day? If you know this is our consumption, why would you allow that release?
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“Scientifically, you cannot tell me that if I fill my tank today, tomorrow, I will fill the same tank with the same quantity of fuel. If I am operating a fuel station today and I go to Minna depot, lift petrol and take it to Kaduna, I may get to Kaduna in the evening and offload that fuel. There is no way I would have sold off that petrol immediately to warrant another load.
“So, how did you get to 60 million litre per day? That is my problem. The issue of smuggling, if you release 98 million litre in actual and 60 million litres is used, the balance should be 38 million litres. How many trucks will carry 38 million litres every day? Which road are they following and where are they carrying this thing to?”
