Group Managing Director of the Nigeria National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, Mele Kyari, has attributed the high rate of product smuggling across the border to petroleum subsidies.
Speaking at a summit hosted by the House of Representatives Committee on Anti-Corruption, Kyari asserted that smuggling and round-tripping would continue as long as subsidies existed.
He stated that NNPC Limited cannot be held accountable for the matter. According to him, “As long as arbitrage is there, you will continue to have these issues and you cannot hold NNPC accountable for it, because it is a value-chain that involves everything and everybody”.
He also revealed that there are threats to his life by those who are opposed to changes caused by the implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act, (PIA).
“There is a threat to life. I can say this: I have several death threats; but we are not bothered about this. We believe that no one dies unless it is his or her time. But this is the cost of change; when people move away from what they are used to something that is new that will take away value and benefit from them, they will react”, he stated.
