No plan to increase pump price of fuel in June, says FG

Ebun Francis| The Federal Government is not in a hurry to increase the pump price of petrol, Timipre Sylva, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, has said.

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.

The governors had on Wednesday called for the full deregulation of the downstream sector and the immediate removal of fuel subsidy, saying the current subsidy regime was unsustainable, and only smugglers and illegal marketers benefit from it.

Many Nigerians Nigerian had following the recommendation expressed worry that the impending increase in price of petrol will increase the hardship in the country.

But on Friday the minister assured Nigerians that there would be no increment in the pump price of fuel in June.

He said, “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.”