Economy
Fuel Subsidy Gulps N774m Daily Due to Smuggling—NNPC
By Dipo Olowookere
Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mr Maikanti Baru, has raised an alarm over the huge amount of debt the agency incurs daily as payment for subsidy for Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) otherwise known as petrol.
He said on a daily basis, the state-owned firm incurs an under-recovery of N774 million in order to allow citizens of Nigeria buy petrol at the regulated rate of N145 per litre.
Mr Baru explained that the huge amount paid is as a result of the product being smuggled from Nigeria to other neighbouring countries like Benin Republic, Niger Republic, Ghana, Cameroon and others, where fuel is sold higher than N145 per litre.
According to him, the smuggling the commodity to these countries was made possible with the proliferation of fuel stations in communities with international land and coastal borders across the country, making it difficult to sanitize the fuel supply and distribution matrix in the country.
Leading a top management team of the corporation on a visit to the Comptroller General of the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS), Mr Hameed Ali, the GMD said he got his information from detailed study conducted by NNPC.
He said that the activities of the smugglers had led to recent observed abnormal surge in the evacuation of petrol from less than 35 million litres per day to more than 60 million litres per day which is in sharp contrast with established national consumption pattern.
Providing a detailed presentation of the findings, the NNPC GMD informed that 16 states, having amongst them 61 Local Government Areas with border communities, account for 2,201 registered fuel stations.
The fuel tank, he noted, had a combined capacity of 144 million litres of petrol, while eight states with coastal border communities spread across 24 LGAs amongst the states account for 866 registered fuel outlets with combined petrol tank capacity of 73.4 million litres.
A further breakdown of the finding shows that among the states with land border, three LGA’s in Ogun State account for 633 fuel stations with combined petrol tankage of 40.5 million litres while nine LGA’s in Borno State have 337 fuel outlets with combined petrol storage capacity of 21 million litres.
He said also that with one LG as border community has 235 registered fuel stations with total petrol storage facility of 19.9 million litres, while on the coastal front, Lagos with six LGA’s leads with 487 registered fuel stations with combined in-built storage capacity of 50.2 million litres.
Akwa Ibom with five LGA’s has 134 registered retail outlets with capacity to store 8.3 million litres, while Ondo State with two LGA’s has 110 fuel stations with capacity to store 3.9 million litres.
Mr Baru explained that because of the obvious differential in petrol price between Nigeria and other neighbouring countries, it had become lucrative for the smugglers to use the frontier stations as a veritable conduit for the smuggling of products across the border, saying this had resulted in a thriving market for Nigerian petrol in all the neighbouring countries of Niger Republic, Benin Republic, Cameroun, Chad and Togo and even Ghana which has no direct borders with Nigeria.
“NNPC is concerned that continued cross-border smuggling of petrol will deny Nigerians the benefit of the Federal Government’s benevolence of keeping a fix retail price of N145 per litre despite the increase in PMS open market price above N171 per litre,” he said.
Welcoming the NNPC GMD and his team to the Customs headquarters, Mr Ali said the NCS would work with the corporation to stem the tide of cross-border smuggling of petroleum products, noting that all hands must be on deck to ensure the economic survival of the country.
The Customs boss thanked NNPC GMD for the elaborate data he provided on the fuel supply situation, noting that this would enable the service fashion out the appropriate architecture to combat the menace.
He called on the authorities to tackle the issue of price differentials which is the underlying motivation for smuggling activities.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Nigeria’s first-ever domestic US Dollar bond has been named as the West Africa Deal of the Year at the 2025 Global Banking & Markets Africa Awards, following a highly successful issuance that raised $917 million.
Announced by the Debt Management Office (DMO) on August 19, 2024, the bond initially targeted $500 million but was oversubscribed by 180 per cent.
The raise came with a five-year tenor and was listed on both the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) and FMDQ Securities Exchange.
The landmark issuance attracted a broad spectrum of investors, including local institutions, diaspora Nigerians, and international players. Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) served as Global Coordinator.
The Ministry of Finance said in a statement on X, formerly Twitter, that the Minister of State for Finance, Mrs Doris Uzoka-Anite, received the award at the Bonds, Loans & ESG Capital Markets Conference in Cape Town, South Africa.
She formally presented it to the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr Wale Edun in his office in Abuja on Thursday.
“This award marks an important step in our ambition to position Nigeria—and Lagos—as a leading international financial centre,” Mr Edun said.
“It also reflects growing confidence in the expertise and resilience of Nigeria’s financial system, which has once again delivered under challenging global conditions”, the Minister affirmed.
The ministry noted that the prestigious award underscores Nigeria’s commitment to developing its capital markets, improving its investment landscape, and attracting foreign investment, adding that it is also a testament to the country’s potential for economic growth and its determination to become a leading international financial centre.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN) has cautioned refinery operators against importing substandard crude oil, following the expiry of the Naira-for-crude deal.
In a statement signed by its National Public Relations Officer, Mr Joseph Obele, the association said imported crude must meet global standards to ensure the production of high-quality petroleum products.
The group stressed that Nigerian crude oil, classified as Sweet Crude due to its low sulfur content of less than 0.5 per cent – ranks among the best in the world, and importation possess a high risk.
“We see no reason why imported crude oil should be of lower standards. The importation of substandard crude oil will compromise the quality of petroleum products, undermine the growth of Nigeria’s oil and gas industry, and ultimately harm consumers.”
PETROAN also expressed concern over speculations that petroleum product prices may rise following the expiration of the naira-for-crude arrangement and called for continued access to imported refined petroleum products to stabilize prices and ensure energy sufficiency.
“The permutations in the media that petroleum prices might increase as the Naira-for-crude deal comes to an end is a serious concern to PETROAN. In order to avoid this scenario, we advocate that the window for importing refined petroleum products should remain open.”
The group urged regulatory agencies to conduct rigorous laboratory testing on all crude oil imports to verify their quality.
“We call on regulatory agencies to be on high alert and conduct thorough laboratory analysis on all crude oil imports to ensure they meet the required standards. We also urge the relevant authorities to ensure that refinery operators adhere to the highest operational standards.”
The association further called on the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Mr Heineken Lokpobiri, to conduct a comprehensive review of the Naira-for-crude initiative to determine the next steps in Nigeria’s energy sector.
“The reforms introduced by the Petroleum Industry Act, PIA, encourage competition in the downstream sector. Competition is a catalyst for price reduction in any sector. We believe that as the market adjusts to the new realities, prices will stabilize and eventually decrease.”
PETROAN also announced plans to conduct independent laboratory testing on refined petroleum products.
“We will conduct laboratory testing on refined petroleum products to determine which refinery or depot our members should buy from. This is to ensure that our members and the Nigerian public are not sold substandard products.”
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange bounced back on Thursday, April 3 from its previous day’s loss, gaining 0.24 per cent at the close of business.
This increased the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) by 7.78 points to 3,316.34 points from the preceding trading day’s 3,308.46 points and raised the portfolios of unlisted securities investors by N4.55 billion as the market capitalisation ended at N1.915 trillion compared with Wednesday’s N1.910 trillion.
This growth occurred after the bourse finished with three price gainers and one price loser, IPWA Plc, which shed 5 Kobo to end at 50 Kobo per share, in contrast to midweek’s value of 55 Kobo per share.
Business Post reports that FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc gained N2.16 to close at N38.66 per unit versus N36.50 per unit, First Trust Microfinance Bank Plc appreciated by 2 Kobo to 58 Kobo per unit from 56 Kobo per unit, and Food Concepts Plc rose by 1 Kobo to N1.18 per share from N1.17 per share.
Data indicated that there was a decrease of 95.9 per cent in the volume of securities bought and sold by the market participants to 372,568 units from the 9.1 million units transacted in the previous trading day.
Equally, the value of transactions slid by 43.7 per cent to N4.1 million from N7.2 million, and the number of deals went up by 81.8 per cent to 40 deals from 22 deals.
When the market ended for the session, Impresit Bakolori Plc was the most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 533.9 million units worth N520.9 million, followed by Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc with 70.2 million units sold for N23.8 million, and Geo Fluids Plc with 44.2 million units valued at N89.4 million.
FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc finished the trading day as the active stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 13.8 million units valued at N531.6 million, trailed by Impresit Bakolori Plc with 533.9 million units worth N520.9 million, and Afriland Properties Plc with 17.8 million units sold for N364.2 million.
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