The presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), Omoyele Sowore, has said the fuel subsidy regime in Nigeria is a scam designed to fleece Nigeria of its common wealth.
Sowore said claim that Nigeria is consuming 60 million litres of fuel is bogus.
Sowore, who spoke during a pre-recorded interview on Channels Television’s Roadmap 2023, took a swipe at the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), wondering where the agency got its figures from.
He said the Nigerian Customs Service refuted claims that Africa’s most populous nation consumes as much as 60 million litres of petrol daily.
According to the presidential hopeful, what is being called subsidy on petrol in Nigeria is simply the rich maintaining their lifestyles
The victims of such a lifestyle, he stated, are the poor and vulnerable masses as the process is mired in corruption and fraud.
“The Customs said openly that Nigeria is not consuming 60 million litres of fuel on a daily basis. So, where does the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) get it from?” he said.
“With regards to subsidy, there is no subsidy in Nigeria. What is happening is the rich subsidising their lifestyles through corruption.
“The second aspect is to make the refineries at homework. We have four refineries that should be working. Even if those refineries don’t produce entirely anything we can consume, the only thing we can import is just a few litres to augment whatever is needed.
“That has been established that we are not importing as much as they are claiming. You say it is a bad idea for the government to be doing business but the government that hates business can invest $2.8 billion in a private refinery in Lagos that is coming on stream very soon.”