Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, has said the Federal Government is not in a hurry to increase the pump price of petrol.
Sylva said this while reacting to the recommendation of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF) that fuel price should be between N380 and N408.5 per litre.
State governors had earlier called for the full deregulation of the downstream sector and the immediate total removal of fuel subsidy, saying the current subsidy regime was unsustainable, and that only smugglers and illegal marketers benefit from it.
But in his response, the minister assured Nigerians that there would be no increment in pump price of fuel in June.
According to him, “It has become necessary to assure Nigerians that despite the huge burden of under-recovery, the Federal Government is not In a hurry to increase the price of Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) to reflect current market realities.
“The current price of petrol will be retained in the month of June until the ongoing engagement with organized labour is concluded. This clarification becomes necessary in the light of recent reports regarding the resolution of the Nigeria Governors Forum to increase the pump price of petrol.
“In this regard, I would like to strongly urge petroleum products marketers not to engage in any activities that could jeopardize the seamless supply and distribution system in place while calling on members of the public to avoid panic buying, because the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has enough stock of petroleum products to keep the nation wet.”
