With subsidies, petrol will cost N410, according to NNPC.

According to Mele Kyari, group chief executive officer of NNPC Limited, prices for gasoline in the country will rise to N410 per gallon if subsidies are eliminated.

Kyari made this comment while speaking at the House of Representatives-hosted Legislative Transparency and Accountability Summit in Abuja on November 9. He said that the N445 price per liter of PMS is no longer available anywhere.

A quote from what he had to say:

It is not possible for you to buy fuel at N170 when your actual cost is thrice that value. For instance, today, when PMS comes into this country, we transfer to marketers at N113 per litre for us to ensure N165 at the pump, so you must sell at N113 to them to be able to deliver at N165.

“That means whatever the cost, anything after that value, that is subsidy. Somebody has to pay for it. Everyone knows the price of PMS around the world. There is nowhere today that you can land a litre of PMS to the pumps at the N445 exchange rate, it is not possible.

In some places, you are subsidizing up to N290 on every litre. With this regime, it is impossible for you to avoid all the wrong things that are happening. Round tripping, cross-border smuggling, document forgery-anywhere you have arbitrage, you will have these issues.

To combat oil theft in the country, Kyari also defended the company's decision to hire private security firms to guard its facilities.