Headline

We Don’t Know Exact Daily Fuel Consumption – FG

Published

4 years ago

March 27, 2022

…Petrol still smuggled out of this country, marketers say

As a country, we still cannot tell the exact volume of Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol, which we consume on a daily basis, the Federal Government has said.

It stated this just as oil marketers explained that Nigeria’s inability to give a definite figure on the amount of petrol it consumes daily was due to the continued smuggling of PMS out of the country.

The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, stated that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited had also agreed that Nigeria could not tell the exact amount of petrol consumed across the country daily.

He disclosed this in an interview with his media team, led by his Senior Adviser, Media and Communications, Horatius Egua, which was made available to our correspondent in Abuja on Friday.

Asked to react to the N3tn fuel subsidy proposal by NNPC, amid concerns about the country’s PMS consumption figure, Sylva replied, “I would have preferred that this question be directed to the NNPC.

“I have made my views known about this issue in the past. NNPC has agreed with me that they are not certain about the exact consumption figure.”

He said the truth was that if the country’s petroleum products were smuggled outside the country, nobody could say what volume was involved today, tomorrow or next week, adding that NNPC could not say they know these figures.

“It’s more or less fueling a criminal economy. The NNPC imports the products, and nobody knows the exact destination of the products at the end of the day,” Sylva stated.

He added, “The imported products come to Nigeria, and from there filters out of our borders to neighbouring countries.

“So, as a country, we cannot tell the exact volume of petroleum products that we consume on a daily basis. All we have been doing is to assume the level of consumption over a period and work with that.”

He, however, expressed belief that the NNPC probably had a better answer to this, stressing that “personally, I dont.

“I have said this publicly before that I don’t know the figure. When I assumed office, initially I was told that our daily consumption was 66 million litres.

“Then, when fuel prices increased from N145 to N162, the consumption figure temporarily fell to about 40 something million litres per day, because the arbitrage opportunity reduced,” Sylva stated.

He added, “Then the value of the naira dropped again, and the number went up again to over 60 million litres. I am told the figure sometimes rise to as high as 90 or over 100 million litres. I don’t know how that happens.

“At this rate, I have said if anyone is looking at a criminal enterprise, look no further than the fuel subsidy.”

This, the minister said, was why he had continued to advocate the removal of fuel subsidy from the country’s PMS pricing template and deregulate.

He said the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), had done everything to resolve the issue, including the closure of the country’s borders with neighbouring countries, yet the criminality was not stopped.

“The truth is that what the President could do was to close the ‘formal’ borders. What about the illegal routes?,” Sylva asked.

On what could be done, the minister said if the subsidy component was taken out through deregulation, smuggling of PMS to neighbouring nations would cease.

“Of course, we need the market from there. But now we are punishing ourselves because every litre we import at our expense will always find its way outside the country,” he stated.

He added, “Now, the government is trying to subsidise our citizens so that our people will at least get the benefit of the subsidy on petroleum products.

“But, now because of how our borders are, it is very difficult. Now, we are inadvertently subsidising the whole of Africa. This is the thing we cannot handle.”

Also speaking on the matter, the Executive Secretary of the Major Oil Marketers of Nigeria, Clement Isong, told our correspondent that the cheap fuel in the country had remained an incentive to smugglers.

He said, “The higher the price (of petrol) is outside the country and you see prices where they are in the country, the natural response is that normal people such as farmers, okada drivers, transporters, etc, will leave their jobs to go and sell petrol.

“This is because of the mark-up. This is why, particularly in Abuja, you see many people carrying jerrycans of fuel selling them on major roads. This also plays along our borders.

“For as long as the international price continues to rise and we keep our own prices where they are, what will happen is that those countries will suck the products out of Nigeria and you simply will not find the product in Nigeria.”

Isong added, “If you go to those countries, the marketers there will tell you that they are unable to sell because of the product coming from Nigeria is killing their market. This happens in all the countries around Nigeria.”

He stated that the normal supply chain volumes would continue to go down because the products were leaving Nigeria, describing those smuggling out PMS as ordinary everyday citizens.

“This is because they simply make more money buying from here at N162-N165/litre and going across the border to sell at N500/litre. It is more money for them and it is simply the law of economics, called arbitrage, which is a market distortion,” Isong stated.

He added, “And it is what the subsidy on petrol does on Nigeria, a market distortion. Something is worth N500 and you’re selling at N200. Now where you’re supposed to find it at N200 you will not see it because it has moved to where the actual value of N500 is.

“This can also contribute to the scarcity we see in parts of Nigeria. That is why NNPC if it is meant to normally supply 60 million litres per day, for it to keep queues out of filling stations, it will have to increase its supply to 90 to 100 million litres. That’s the problem.”

The MOMAN official said Nigeria must wean itself of fuel subsidy, “because we are killing both our present and future.

“We simply cannot afford it. We are borrowing money for it.”

PUNCH.

Related Topics:#FG NNPC Petroleum Timipre Sylva

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Headline

Meta Suspends Activists For Showing Election Killings

Published

1 hour ago

December 5, 2025

Editor

Meta suspended the Instagram accounts of two Tanzanian activists on Thursday after they posted images of the violent crackdown by security forces on election protests, which authorities have tried to suppress.

Tanzania descended into violence on October 29, the day of elections deemed fraudulent by international observers.

More than 1,000 people were shot dead by security forces over several days of unrest, according to the opposition and rights groups, though the government has yet to give a final toll.

Mange Kimambi, who has more than 2.5 million Instagram followers, had been posting hundreds of photos of the dead and wounded since early November, sent to her by Tanzanians via WhatsApp, she told AFP last month from the United States.

Not all the images have been verified, but AFP fact checkers and other media and investigative sites have found many are real.

On Thursday, Kimambi, in a letter to US President Donald Trump published on X, complained that her Instagram accounts and WhatsApp number had been “deactivated after I raised awareness about a series of severe abuses and horrific events occurring in Tanzania”, including “kidnappings, killings and imprisonment of opposition leaders on fabricated treason charges”.

Another prominent Tanzanian activist, Maria Sarungi Tsehai, who lives in exile, also had her Instagram account suspended, though only within Tanzania.

“Check out @Meta @instagram and their role in enabling the cover up of #TanzaniaMassacre by restricting and deleting our Instagram and Whatsapp accounts,” Tsehai posted on X.

“This is a direct attack on human rights defenders! We work to save lives by whistleblowing about abductions, corruption and killings,” she added.

Contacted by AFP, a spokesperson for Meta justified the action against Kimambi in the name of its “policy against recidivism”, implying she had created new accounts after others were suspended.

The action against Tsehai was a response to “a legal order from Tanzanian regulators”, the spokesperson said.

“If we are unable to provide our services there, millions of people will be deprived of connecting with family and friends,” Meta added.

In early November, Tanzania’s attorney general, Hamza Johari, called for Kimambi to be arrested and threatened to try to have her extradited from the United States, where she lives.

Headline

Why Europe Is Blocking More Nigerian Goods At Its Borders

Published

1 day ago

December 3, 2025

Editor

Nigeria’s exports continue to face repeated rejection in European Union markets, a challenge caused by consistent quality failures, weak regulatory enforcement, and heavy dependence on raw commodities.

New trade figures further show that while export values expressed in naira have risen sharply, dollar earnings have continued to decline, undermining Nigeria’s competitiveness abroad.

Meanwhile, South Africa remains one of the African countries with the highest rate of export acceptance in Nigeria and the EU, highlighting the gaps between both economies’ standards and certification systems.

According to data from International Trade Centre (ITC) , Nigeria’s export earnings fell for a second consecutive year in 2024, dropping by 8.5% to $57.9 billion.

The figure had already declined from $63.3 billion in 2022 to $60.65 billion in 2023. In naira terms, however, total exports rose from ₦26.8 trillion in 2022 to ₦36 trillion in 2023 and surged to ₦77.4 trillion in 2024.

These increases reflect the naira’s steep depreciation, not an improvement in the volume or acceptance of Nigerian goods overseas.

Intelpoint data show that the naira weakened from ₦645.2 to the dollar at the end of 2023 to ₦1,478.9 in 2024, marking the sharpest yearly decline in a decade.

EU border agencies have repeatedly rejected Nigerian agricultural and manufactured goods for failing to meet essential sanitary and phytosanitary requirements.

Frequent violations include excessive pesticide residue, poor traceability, contamination detected during inspection, and inconsistencies in certification documentation issued in Nigeria.

These failures stem largely from fragmented supply chains, weak monitoring capacity and a lack of internationally accredited laboratories.

South Africa, Morocco and Kenya maintain far stronger conformity systems, and South Africa in particular consistently delivers some of the highest acceptance rates across EU ports.

The ITC figures show that oil remains the backbone of Nigeria’s exports, contributing nearly 90 per cent of total earnings between 2022 and 2024. Over that period, the country earned $163.2 billion from crude oil out of total export revenues of $181.8 billion.

Despite this dominance, oil earnings have continued to fall, declining from $57.4 billion in 2022 to $55.6 billion in 2023 and then to $50.3 billion in 2024.

Because crude prices are determined externally and the product is exported with limited value addition, Nigeria gains little competitive advantage from currency depreciation.

Non-oil exports recorded mixed fortunes. Cocoa earnings rose from $679 million in 2022 to $759 million in 2023 and climbed sharply to $2.6 billion in 2024.

Fertiliser exports fell from $1.9 billion in 2022 to $935.4 million in 2024. Ores and residues, however, increased from $158.6 million in 2023 to $824.4 million in 2024.

Despite positive growth in some sectors, quality problems have continued to undermine acceptance in Europe, particularly for foods such as beans, palm oil and processed crops.

Nigeria recorded stronger performance in African markets in 2024 due to the relative strength of the West African CFA franc.

Companies such as Unilever Nigeria, Cadbury Nigeria and Guinness Nigeria reported export sales of ₦22.8 billion in 2024, up from ₦9.92 billion in the preceding year. EU markets, however, maintain stricter inspection standards, and Nigeria’s structural weaknesses continue to limit penetration.

The country’s export structure remains heavily constrained by outdated processing technology, weak inspection capacity, irregular regulatory monitoring, and an overreliance on raw commodities.

Also, pipeline vandalism and crude theft also prevent Nigeria from meeting its production benchmark of 1.7 million barrels per day, despite a rise to 1.5 million barrels per day in 2024.

In December 2023, the Federal Government introduced the Trade Policy of Nigeria (2023–2027), aimed at aligning export regulations with World Trade Organisation rules and boosting global competitiveness.

The policy forms part of a wider reform agenda tied to the Medium-Term National Development Plan (2021–2025) and Agenda 2050.

Despite these initiatives, limited investment in quality assurance, industrial processing and standards enforcement continues to weaken Nigeria’s acceptance in high-value markets such as the EU.

Headline

US Imposes Visa Restrictions On Nigerians Linked To Religious Freedom Violations

Published

1 day ago

December 3, 2025

Editor

The United States government on Wednesday announced visa restrictions targeting individuals involved in violations of religious freedom in Nigeria. The measures may also extend to immediate family members of the affected persons.

In a statement titled “Combating Egregious Anti-Christian Violence in Nigeria and Globally”, the Department of State said the restrictions were being implemented in response to mass killings and attacks on Christians by radical Islamic terrorists, Fulani militias, and other violent actors in Nigeria and elsewhere.

The statement explained that under Section 212(a)(3)(C) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, the State Department would now have the authority to deny visas to those who have “directed, authorised, significantly supported, participated in, or carried out violations of religious freedom,” with the policy potentially extending to their immediate family members.

It further cited former President Donald Trump’s remarks, noting that the United States “cannot stand by while such atrocities are happening in Nigeria, and numerous other countries.” The policy will apply to Nigeria and other governments or individuals implicated in violations of religious freedom.

The announcement follows growing international concern over attacks on religious communities in Nigeria, including targeted killings, abductions, and destruction of property attributed to armed groups.