Despite many denials by the Nigerian government on non-payment of fuel subsidies, President Bola Tinubu has given approval to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited to use the 2023 final dividends owed to the federation to cover the cost of petrol subsidies, BusinessDay reports.
The president reportedly approved a halt on the payment of 2024 interim dividends to the federation to help boost NNPC’s cash flow.
The NNPC informed the president that due to the subsidy payments, it is currently unable to pay taxes and royalties into the federation account, referring to this as a “subsidy shortfall/FX differential”.
The report which is based on a forecast from NNPC, obtained by the newspaper, indicated that the total petrol subsidy expenses from August 2023 to December 2024 will amount to N6.884 trillion, leaving the company unable to remit N3.987 trillion in taxes and royalties to the federation account.
The exact number of dividends that would be withheld or put on hold could not be verified at the time of filing this report.