Nigerian authorities have highlighted a nagging problem in the country’s oil sector, which is the smuggling of petroleum products, intended for domestic use, outside the country.
- Despite the removal of fuel subsidy, it is still profitable for smugglers to take fuel illegally from Nigeria.
- Nigeria’s relatively cheaper pump price encourages the illicit export of Premium Motor Spirit to neighboring nations.
- Price differentials fuel smuggling operations, leading to the launch of the operating Whirlwind initiative.
The Nigeria Customs Service, via the group’s Comptroller General, Adewale Adeniyi, not only highlighted the problem but disclosed that the illegal activity is thriving.
His assessment touched on the glaring difference between fuel prices in Nigeria and fuel prices outside the country.
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Speaking during the service’s first quarter performance review held in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, on Tuesday, the Comptroller General stated that “Despite the removal of the fuel subsidy, it is still profitable for smugglers to take fuel illegally from Nigeria. You know that the prices are dynamic.”
He also disclosed that even though Nigeria no more offers fuel subsidies, the relatively cheaper pump price still encourages the illicit export of Premium Motor Spirit to nations like the Benin Republic, Cameroon, and Niger.
While PMS costs between N880 and N950 per litre in Nigeria, Adeniyi pointed out that the identical product is sold for significantly more in neighboring nations.
What the Nigeria Customs Service highlighted about fuel smuggling
The same product “Is lower compared to around N1600 and N2000 per litre in Cameroon, Niger, and the Benin Republic,” he stated.
Even if the local costs of gasoline have significantly decreased in certain of these nations, the Customs chief emphasized that smuggling operations are still fueled by this large price differential. as seen on the Punch Newspaper.
“While the price of the products is coming down to around N850 and N900 per liter in places like Cameroon, it is close to N2,000 per liter, in Niger, it is N1,600 per liter, and the same with the Benin Republic,” he said.
“This arbitrage provides the incentive. That is why we launched the operating Whirlwind,” he added.
In May 2023, prior to the president’s inauguration and his declaration of the removal of fuel subsidies, fuel in Nigeria sold for ₦238.11 per liter; however, in May 2024, it sold for approximately ₦770 per liter. Currently fuel price is going for an average of ₦900.
