President Bola Tinubu has assured Nigerians that there will be no further increase in the pump price of petrol, despite the deregulation of the product.
The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, made this known in Abuja while briefing journalists after he had a closed-door meeting with the president on Tuesday.
“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 in the pump price of petroleum motor spirit anywhere in the country,” the spokesperson said. “We repeat, the president affirms that there will be no increase in the pump price of petroleum motor spirit.”
Mr Tinubu also acknowledged that there are inefficiencies within the downstream sector that are contributing to the fuel price controversy. He assured that all loopholes associated with the smooth delivery of petroleum products in the country will be addressed without delay.
“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,” Mr Ngelale said.
Mr President wishes to assure Nigerians, following the announcement by the NNPC Limited just yesterday, that there will be no 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.
“We also wish to affirm that the President is determined to maintain competitive tension within all subsectors of the petroleum industry. He is determined to ensure that our policy drawn up as well as policy implemented follows the cue that there will not be any single one entity dominating the market.”
The Presidency reminded Nigerians that the market has been deregulated and liberalised; hence, a steady movement forward in that direction without looking back.
He affirmed that there are presently inefficiencies within the midstream and downstream petroleum subsectors but maintained that government would swiftly address and clean up the sector to 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.
Ngelale stated further: “I wish at this juncture to also provide a set of graphics which the President has authorised me to share with Nigerians that otherwise would be confidential. These are graphics supplied to Mr President by the NNPCL.
“In the graphic, 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 at pump price today of N1,273 equivalent per litre, Guinea at N1,075 per litre, Côte d’ Ivore 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 litre.
“So this is the backdrop. At the inception of our deregulation policy on June 1, as Mr President took office, we have seen PMS consumption in the country drop immediately from 67 million litres per day down to 46 million litres per day consumption. The impact is evident.
“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 to 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 and transparent with them.
“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.
Vswag space 