The Federal Government has denied reintroducing the subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol, amid the closure of many filling stations nationwide due to various challenges in the downstream oil sector.
It also said the pockets of queues observed by motorists in petrol stations across the country stemmed from hiccups in product distribution from the South to the North, not a lack of supply.
This came as the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited -NNPCL also declared that it would have gone bankrupt in June this year had it been the President, Bola Tinubu, did not halt subsidy on PMS in May. NNPCL also announced that Nigeria would become a net exporter of refined petroleum products by next year, going by efforts to revamp its refineries.
Reports say that Nigeria, through the NNPCL, currently imports PMS and other refined petroleum products consumed across the country, which has been ongoing for decades.
The Group Chief Executive Officer, NNPCL, Mele Kyari, told State House Correspondents after an audience with the President at the Aso Rock Villa that fuel subsidy had not been returned.