No Going Back on Deregulation – FG

No Going Back on Deregulation – FG

The federal government has maintained that there is no alternative to the new policy of deregulation of the pump price of petrol amid widespread angst amongst the citizenry over the possible attendant hardship to be occasioned by the policy, Vanguard reports.

While reacting to the threat by organized labour of a total shutdown of economic activities beginning midnight Wednesday, government appealed to their leadership and all Nigerians for understanding, stressing that the tough times would not last long as measures are being taken to cushion the attendant negative effects.

In his address to journalists in Abuja on Monday, the Minister of Information, Alh. Lai Mohammed, said that the paucity of foreign exchange has made it impossible for the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to continue to solely import petroleum products.

“Many have been asking why this would happen at this time and what triggered the decision concerning the new framework for petrol products supply, distribution and pricing. “Gentlemen, we have no choice than to liberalize the price of petrol, if we are to end the crippling fuel scarcity that has enveloped the country, ensure the availability of the products and end the suffering of our people over the lingering scarcity,” he said.

The Minister of State for petroleum, Dr Ibe Kachikwu, last week announced the deregulation of the downstream sector of the petroleum industry, with the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) or petrol, to sell in a price band of N135 to N145 amid crippling fuel scarcity across the country.