Why we banned fuel supply to border areas – Customs chief

The Comptroller-General of Customs, Hameed Ali, has explained why Customs banned fuel supply to filling stations close to the land borders.

He told the House of Representatives Committee on Customs during the 2020 budget defence that the decision was to stop the smuggling of the products to neighbouring countries by marketers.

He said: “They (marketers) get approval to discharge the products legitimately in the day, but at night, they siphon it out. This has been going on for a long time.

“Now, we restricted supply to 20km before the border. Let’s monitor the outflow. We want to know where the outflow is coming from.

“But we suspect these filling stations at the border are being as the conduit to siphon petrol and sell double the price to neighbouring countries.

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“Petrol is sold at N395/litre, but they buy from Nigeria at less than N145/litre.

“With this border closure, it has jumped to N600/litre. Meaning, we are the one subsidising petrol for neighbouring countries.

“So, marketers are making a kill. It’s attractive to take petrol out and sell there.”

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