National Wire About Nigerians, Nigerian Business and Other Stories
The federal government has allayed fears of any possibility of hike in the prices of petroleum products in the month of June.
The Minister of State for Petroleum, Timipre Sylva, made this clarification Friday, on the backdrop of the 36 state governors requesting for the price of petroleum to be hiked to N385/liter respectively.
According to a statement signed by the minister, a copy which was obtained by national wire, he said “once again, 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.
He said, the current price of petrol (N162/per liter) will be retained in the month of June until the ongoing engagement with organized labour is concluded.
He noted that, the 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 activity that could jeopardize the seamless supply and distribution system in place. I also urge 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”, he added.
It will be recall that the government have been bearing the huge cost of price differentials in petroleum products, even as this has resulted in payment of monthly subsidy of over N120 billion.
