…Says NLC strke threat premature
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu said Tuesday that there would be no further increase in the pump price of premium motor spirit otherwise known as fuel.
Addressing State House correspondents after a meeting with Tinubu, the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity Mr Ajuri Ngelale said the President also assured that all loopholes associated with the smooth delivery of petroleum products in the country would be addressed immediately.
“The President wishes to state that it is incumbent upon all stakeholders in the country to hold their peace. The President wishes to assure Nigerians, following the announcements by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC), just yesterday that there will be no increase increase in the pump price of petroleum motor spirit anywhere in the country. We repeat, the president affirms that there will be no increase in the pump price of petroleum motor spirit.
“The President also wishes to affirm that there are presently inefficiencies within the midstream and downstream petroleum sub sectors that once very swiftly addressed and cleaned up will ensure that we can maintain prices where they are without having to resort to a reversal of this administration’s deregulation policy in the petroleum industry,” he said.
On the warning by the organised labour to embark on strike without notice if the pump price of PMS is increased, Nglale said the government sees that as a premature warning.
“The President wishes to state that it is incumbent upon all stakeholders in the country to hold their peace. We have heard very recently from the organized labour movement in the country with respect to their most recent threat.
“We believe that the threat was premature and that there is a need on all sides to ensure that fact finding and diligence is done on what the current state of the downstream and midstream petroleum industry is before any threats or conclusions are arrived at or issued,” he said.
He said there are no plans to reintroduce subsidy on petroleum products as being speculated by some sections of the media.
“The market has been deregulated. It has been liberalized and we are moving forward in that direction without looking back.The President also wishes to affirm that there are presently inefficiencies within the midstream and downstream petroleum sub sectors that once very swiftly addressed and cleaned up will ensure that we can maintain prices where they are without having to resort to a reversal of this administration’s deregulation policy in the petroleum industry,” he said.
He said the President has authorised the release of the graphics of his daily briefing on the supply of petrol products to enable Nigerias make comparison with what is obtainable in other countries.
“I wish at this juncture to also provide a set of graphics which the President has authorized me to share with Nigerians that otherwise would be confidential. These are graphics supplied to Mr. President by the NNPCL.
“In the graphics, what you will find is the present cost of refined petroleum motor spirit at the pump in each of the West African nations that neighbour us and I’ll just name some for example, even as I know, you will be showing your audiences the graphics, which the president has graciously approved for public release today.
“Senegal’s pump price today is N1,273 equivalent per liter, Guinea at N1,075 per liter, Côte d’Ivoire at N1,048 per litre equivalent in their currency, Mali N1,113 per litre, Central African Republic N1,414 per litre, Nigeria is presently averaging between N568 and N630 per litre.
“We are presently the cheapest, most affordable purchasing state in the West African sub-region by some distance. There is no country that is below N700 per liter. So this is the backdrop we have seen that at the inception of our deregulation policy as of June 1 as Mr. President took office, we saw PMS consumption in the country drop immediately from 67 million litres per day consumption, down to 46 million litres per day consumption. The impact is evident,” he said.
He said the President expressed optimism that the situation would soon be under control, and called for for patience and understanding as government strives yo resolve the problem.
“What it also does mean though, is that we are not at the end of the tunnel. There is still a bit of darkness to travel through to get toward the light. And we are pleading with Nigerians to please be patient with us.
“And as we promised from the beginning we will be open with Nigerians will be transparent with them. And we are ready to show you exactly what it is that our nation is facing with respect to the illiquidity in the market in terms of foreign exchange, as a result of what is now known to have been a gross mismanagement of the Central Bank of Nigeria over the course of several years preceding this time,” he said.
