The Minister of state for petroleum resources Timipre Sylva has said that current price of petrol will not be revised in June.
The Ministers statement may not be unconnected with the recent resolution of the governors giving full backing to complete deregulation of the downstream sector of the petroleum industry, which in effect may jerk the pump price of petrol to N385 per litre.
Attempts to remove subsidy on the Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) had severally been stalled with the government and organised labour locked in endless negotiation.
But governors had recommended the immediate removal of petrol subsidy and proposed an over 130 per cent pump price increase, from N162 per litre to between N380 and N408.5
In a statement on Friday, the Minister stated, “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.:
According to him the current price of petrol will be retained in the month of June until the ongoing engagement with organized labour is concluded.
Sylva further explained 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.” the Minister assured.
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