The Nigeria Customs Service has attributed the continued smuggling of petrol across Nigeria’s borders despite the removal of subsidy to price differential in neighbouring countries.
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Comptroller General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi, disclosed this during the service’s first quarter performance briefing in Abuja.
He explained that despite the removal of the fuel subsidy, it is still profitable for smugglers to take fuel illegally from Nigeria because of the price dynamics.
He said the development has made smuggling the fuel pricing very attractive to smugglers.
According to him, although Nigeria has ended its subsidy regime, the relatively lower pump price still incentivises illegal exportation of Premium Motor Spirit to countries like Cameroon, Niger, and the Benin Republic.
“The fuel has remained profitable due to the price arbitrage”, he noted.
He said while the price of PMS within Nigeria ranges between N880 and N950 per litre, it is sold for N1600 and N2000 per litre in Cameroon, Niger, and the Benin Republic,” he stated
Adeniyi emphasized that this significant price gap continues to fuel smuggling activities though some of these countries witnessing slight reductions in local fuel costs.
“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.”
Adeniyi said the NCS has initiated a special anti-smuggling operation to curb the situation.
“This arbitrage provides the incentive. That is why we launched the operating Whirlwind,” he said.
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