The Comptroller-General of Customs, Col. Hameed Ali (rtd), yesterday alleged that Nigeria was subsidising petrol for other countries.
He argued that the decision to suspend the supply of petrol to communities at the border was taken to check the smuggling of the product.
Speaking at the 2020 budget defence before the House of Representatives Committee on Customs, Ali said majority of the retail outlets located at the border were culpable for fuel diversion, especially petrol.
Ali explained that the agency suspects that the filling stations at the border were being used to receive petrol and sell at exorbitant prices to neighbouring countries.
“They get approval to discharge the product legitimately in the day but at night, siphon it out. This has been going on for a long time.
“Now, we have restricted supply to 20 kilometres before the border. Let’s monitor the outflow. We want to know where the outflow is coming from.”
He also said, “Petrol is sold at N395 per litre but they buy from Nigeria at less than N145 per litre. “With this border closure, it has jumped to N600 per litre. Meaning, we are the one subsidising petrol for neighbouring countries. So, marketers are making a kill. It’s attractive to take petrol out and sell there.”
On the 2020 budget for the Customs, Ali said the agency was set to deploy coordinated Information Communication Technology-driven tools to achieve its N1.67 trillion revenue target set for it by the federal government.
According to him, the figure consists of N1.5 trillion for federation revenue, while non-federation stands at N178.62 billion.
