He claims that until the gasoline subsidy was eliminated in May 2023, fuel traffickers could make up to N17 million every truckload by smuggling petroleum into nearby nations.

Mele Kyari, the CEO of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, has once more defended the elimination of gasoline subsidies in the nation.

He claims that until the gasoline subsidy was eliminated in May 2023, fuel traffickers could make up to N17 million every truckload by smuggling petroleum into nearby nations.

Speaking to reporters on the government’s initiatives to regulate the oil and gas industry in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, he stated as much.

Kyari said that traffickers could make N17 million every trip with a single 6000-liter truck that is smuggled across the border; yet, he asserted that the same truckload of petrol would only cost N500,000 in Nigeria, giving Borno as an example.

He said that the elimination of the gasoline subsidy closed this “loophole” since the motivation to smuggle has been much reduced.

“Over the last 47 years, there has been substantial subsidisation of petrol, leading to an opportunity for arbitrage, as fuel prices in Nigeria were considerably lower than those in neighbouring countries,” Kyari stated.

Fuel prices were restored to their actual market value after the President terminated the subsidy in June. Fuel smuggling across borders is no longer profitable. Smugglers who used to make N17 million every trip are no longer able to do so.

“When they could have previously made N17 million in one trip smuggling it across the border, why would anyone go through the hassle of taking a truck to Maiduguri and make only N500,000 or, at best, a few million after holding the product for a month?” he questioned.

The way Nigeria removed fuel subsidies has generated controversy; this action has been attributed to hardship and rising inflation.

On May 29, 2023, the Nigerian President declared that the “subsidy” was no longer available.

There are claims that Nigeria continues to subsidise petrol, a claim that the government has always refuted.