The National Bureau of Statistics has disclosed that Nigeria spent N1.51 trillion on the imports of premium motor spirit, also known as petrol, in the first quarter of 2022.

This was 25.54 percent of the total imports for this quarter, and an increase of 17.05 percent when compared to the N1.29tn spent on importing fuel in Q1 2021.

The PMS import, as usual, tops the list of imported products for this quarter.

In the Foreign Trade in Goods Statistics report of the NBS the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited showed that the oil firm spent N210.38bn, N219.78bn, and N245.77bn as subsidy on petrol in January, February, and March 2022 respectively.

This means that a total of N675.93bn was spent on fuel subsidies in Q1 2022. The amount spent on fuel subsidy is 44.86 percent of the amount spent on fuel import.

Recall that the amount spent on fuel subsidy monthly rose from N60.39bn in March 2021 to N245.77bn in March 2022, indicating an increase of 306.97 per cent.

Despite the increasing cost of the fuel subsidy, Nigerians still suffered a hike in the cost of transportation.