The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation said it could no longer sustain the pump price rate of N145 per litre for Premium Motor Spirit.(PMS) as it affects its revenue base.
The newly inaugurated Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Mele Kyari made the disclosure on Wednesday at a meeting when the hierarchy of revenue generation agencies and corporations and the leadership of the Senate at the National Assembly complex in Abuja.
The meeting which was held behind close doors was geared towards boosting revenue generation for the country.
The GMD, Kyari said the pump price of PMS otherwise known as petrol in Nigeria was over 70 per cent less the price of N350, per litre in the neighbouring countries where the products were being smuggled to for higher profits.
He further added that Nigeria enjoy the cheapest pump price in the whole of West African Sub-region.
He said:” It is even very difficult for us to make the Petroleum Product available at N145″.
Commenting on upstream sector investment the NNPC GMD expressed concern that the country’s revenue generation from gas production is far way minimal compared to crude oil.
He asserted that the corporation would meet the revenue projection of the Appropriations Act since according to him, the NNPC was working round the clock with the customs and security agencies to dip the growing menace of oil smuggling in the bud.
The Director of Department of Petroleum Resources ( DPR), Rufai Ahmed Ishaku, made an appeal to the National Assembly to further accelerate the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill, as he believed the bill would bring a monumental development in the oil and gas industry and as well shore up revenues generation in the industry.
In his presentation, Controller General of Custom, Hammeed Ali informed the lawmakers that Custom Service has generated N653.3 billion by the end of June 2019 adding that N1.202 trillion in 2018.
“We collected N1.202 trillion in 2018 and as of June this year, we have collected N653.3 billion. We will surpass 2018 revenue by the end of the year, he assured.
The Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Services ( FIRS), in his own submission, disclosed to the Senate leadership that in the last 2 months, FIRS has realized about N6.5 billion in revenue.
He added that by the end of this quarter, the agency would have realized about N500 billion in revenue in its revenue resolve to meet the projections embedded in the 2019 budget.
The President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan told chief executives of the revenue agencies that the purpose of the collaboration was to gear them up in making more revenues for the government for effective and efficient budget implementation.
” It is very worrisome that the country within the last few years have been resorting to borrowing from external lenders for implementation of capital components of the yearly budget.
”This is not good for the country economically when we have agencies that can assist in generating revenues at home for the execution of such projects.”