Concerns have been raised over the renewed smuggling of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), otherwise known as petrol, among Nigeria’s West African neighbours such as Benin Republic, Cameroun, and others.
The petrol price in Nigeria is around N701 per litre, while it is being sold at 1,700 per litre in some West African nations. This difference in pricing has led to an increase in the product’s smuggling out of Nigeria over the last two weeks.
Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service, (NCS), Adewale Adeniyi, who revealed this during a press conference in Yola, Adamawa State, stated that the NCS and the Office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) must collaborate to combat the threat.
According to him, “Despite the inflationary pressures and financial strain on households, particularly those with lower incomes, comparative studies still show that fuel prices in Nigeria remain the cheapest compared to other countries in the West and Central African region”.
Speaking further, Adeniyi said, “While PMS is sold at an average of N701.99 in Nigeria, it is sold at an average of N1,672.05 in the Republic of Benin and N2,061.55 in Cameroon. In other countries around the region, the price of PMS ranges from N1,427.68 in Liberia to N2,128.20 in Mali, averaging N1,787.57, according to the fuel price data obtained from open source”.
The Customs Boss said this comparative price advantage, though beneficial to Nigerian citizens, unfortunately, created a lucrative incentive for smuggling PMS out of Nigeria, where prices were two to three times higher.
He said this is substantiated by the report on the average daily evacuation of PMS to various states in Nigeria, obtained from the Nigeria National Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority.
Meanwhile, as the smuggling intensifies, its economic impact is yet to be fully determined, but it raises concerns about fuel shortages within Nigeria and lost revenue for the government. The authorities are likely to intensify efforts to curb this illegal activity in the coming days.
Analysts have said there is a lack of transparency among stakeholders in the sector, citing that this development could breed intense smuggling, stealing and pipeline vandalism.
In November 2023, Executive Secretary of the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), Ogbonnaya Orji, emphasised the grave consequences of oil theft, stressing its detrimental impact on oil exploration, exploitation, economic growth, business prospects, and oil company profits.
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