Despite the denial of ending subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), indications have emerged that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPL) is unable to pay oil traders $3 billion.

With surging crude oil prices, inflation and depreciation of the Naira, The Guardian had reported that about N1 trillion is being paid monthly to sustain the current pump price of petrol.

Some oil traders have told Reuters that while the NNPCL is gradually clearing the backlog, over $3 trillion remains unpaid.

The players said instead of the agreed 90 days, the payment is taking as much as 130 days.

While NNPCL remains the sole importer of petrol, President Bola Tinubu, who had announced subsidy in his inauguration speech on May 29, 2023, backtracked through a subsequent announcement reiterating that the price would remain unchanged.

The development has kept the pump price at a flat rate despite changes in market realities, including the crude price, which now sells for about $90 per barrel against the about $70 it was when Nigeria removed subsidy.

Meanwhile, across most West African countries, the price of petrol now hovers between N1,400 and N2,000 per barrel.

In Cameroon, a litre of PMS was N2,011; Benin Republic sells at N1,633. Togo offers it for N1,680, while the product goes for N1,500 in Ghana. It is N2,080 in Mali and N2,042 in Burkina Faso.