FG to end petrol subsidy June 2023, awards Tompolo multi-billion Pipeline Protection contract
The House of Representatives Ad Hoc Committee to Investigate the Petroleum Products Subsidy Regime from 2013 to 2022, has grilled the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, over payments of subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) by the Federal Government.
In her presentation, Ahmed disclosed that the Federal Government had now proposed a new date to end payments on under-recovery between the landing cost and regulated pump price of PMS, stating that the subsidy regime was not sustainable and might force the government to borrow more in 2023.
According to the finance minister, the government had now planned for payment of subsidy for only half of next year, as contained in the 2023-2025 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper.
Meanwhile, President Muhammadu Buhari’s government has awarded Government Ekpemupolo, a.k.a Tompolo, the former militant leader who was the Commander of the defunct Movement for Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND), a pipeline surveillance contract.
The deal is seen as a renewal as Tompolo got a similar deal during the Goodluck Jonathan administration.
The government and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Limited agreed to engage Tompolo to end illegal bunkering, illegal refining, and oil theft in Niger-Delta communities.
