We’re not Responsible For The Recent Hike In Petrol Pump Price ~ FG

The Federal government has denied influencing the recent petrol pump price. This was made known by the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, in his chat with Daily Trust.

This comes after the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) had on Wednesday, October 9, hiked the pump price of fuel from N897 per litre to N1, 030 in Abuja, N855 to N998 in Lagos, N1, 070 in North-East, N1,025 in other South-West states, N1,045 in South-East and N1,075 in South-South.

This triggered Nigerians as the demand that Mr. President, Bola Tinubu should intervene in the recent increase.

Idris explained that the hike in petrol was a decision made by NNPCL in response to prevailing circumstances in the energy industry. He emphasized that the decision was not acted upon directive from the federal government, as the government can no longer fix the prices of petroleum products in line with the provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).

He stated that with the subsidy regime ending in May 2023, the NNPCL had only been paying differentials to keep the price within the range it had been, but the company stated it could no longer absorb the losses.

“The differential you’re seeing is a result of different factors. One of them is the crisis in the Middle East. There’s volatility in the market. Therefore, the prices of petroleum products are going up, consistent with what is happening with other operators in the industry globally. Secondly, NNPC cannot continue to absorb these losses for Nigeria because as a limited liability company, it would be operating at a loss,” he said

He urged the city to continue to show understanding for the NNPCL and the government, as the petrol price would eventually come down. He also mentioned that the FG is investing the money withdrawn from the fuel subsidies in health care, education, infrastructure and security.

He also added that the initial investment by FG in CNG would also improve the impart even as more operators invest.