The increase in petrol prices is not our fault – FG

Depending on the location of purchase, the price of petrol is currently between N175/litre and N230/litre in Nigeria.

Reason for the new Price Regime: During the recent fuel crisis in the country, oil marketers started selling petrol above the approved N165/litre rate.

The marketers argued that selling at the official rate was no longer sustainable and was contributory to the perennial fuel scarcity that was recently experienced across the country.

As a result, they started selling above the official price of N165/lire, and since they hiked the price, the government has been silent about the disparity in the pump prices of petrol.

FG’s Denial: But the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, has maintained that the Federal Government has not raised the price of PMS.

The minister while Speaking on the sidelines of the stakeholders’ consultation forum on Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulations organised by the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority in Abuja said the increase was probably from petrol marketers.

“The government is still subsidising, if there are increases in the price it is not from the government, it is probably from the marketers.

“But, of course, I will talk to the NMDPRA’s chief executive to ensure that they actually regulate the prices. But this is not from the government because we have not deregulated,” Sylva said.

When asked why the Federal Government had not taken actions against erring marketers for selling above the official price or monitored their activities to ensure they sell at the government-approved price, he replied, “Well, I don’t know about monitoring exercise. But I know that the authority is fully on their job and the queues will be dissipated very soon.”

Currently in Lagos, the product sells between N169 and N185 per litre.