By Edith Ike-Eboh
The Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) said the Federal Government under former presidents Olusegun Obasanjo, Umaru Yar’Adua and Goodluck Jonathan spent N8.94 trillion or $23.05 billion on petrol subsidy.
The amount, calculated at current exchange rate, was spent between 2006 and 2015.
The agency disclosed this in a document on subsidy payment released in Abuja on Monday.
It said that the subsidy was paid to oil marketers and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) in the period under review.
A break down of the money indicated that in 2006 a total of N257.36 billion was paid.
In 2007, it was N271.51 billion while in 2008, N630.57 billion was paid to marketers.
‘Also, oil marketers in 2009 were paid N409.31 billion and N667.08 billion in 2010 respectively as subsidy claims,” it said.
The document further revealed that in the year 2011, federal government paid a total of N2, 105.92 trillion an increase of N1,437.84trillion from 2010 payment.
The PPPRA in the document noted that in 2012, N1.35 trillion was paid as subsidy, the highest in the period under review.
“A total of N 1, 316.63 trillion in 2013, N1,217.35 trillion in 2014 and N653.51 billion in 2015 was paid as subsidy claims, “it added.
It noted that the NNPC since 2016 had been the sole importer of the product to the country.
It assured that subsequent releases would revealed the amount paid on subsidy before the deregulation of the downstream oil sector.