Marketers Responsible For Petrol Price Hike, Not FG – Sylva
The federal government has said that any increase in the price of petrol has been at the instance of petroleum marketers, insisting it has not removed subsidy the product.
Minister of state Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva told journalists yesterday in Abuja at a stakeholders’ consultation forum on regulations organised by the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, (NMDPRA), that the government is still paying subsidies on petrol.
This is as the NMDPRA is set to unveil new regulations and policies to enforce the provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021 in the midstream and downstream sectors of the industry.
It was earlier reported that fuel marketers had increased the pump price of petrol from the official rate of N165 per litre to N185 and N230 per litre depending on the location in Abuja and other states.
Checks reveal that even government owned NNPC Limited filling stations have raised the petrol pump price from government regulated N165 per litre to N174 per litre and above.
Sylva said: “I can tell you authoritatively, we have not deregulated. The government is still subsidizing (petrol price). If there are increases in price, it is not from the government. It’s probably from the marketers but of course I will talk to the Authority to ensure that they actually regulate the price. This is not from the government, we have not deregulated”.
