The
Federal Government on Wednesday announced a new pump price of Petroleum Motor
Spirit (PMS) which should not be above N145 per litre.
This
is contained in a statement issued by the Minister of State for Petroleum, Mr
Ibe Kachikwu, and read to State House Correspondents.
The
Minister said the decision was taken at the end of the stakeholders meeting
presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.
According
to the statement, any Nigerian is free to import the product and sell at a
price not above N145 per litre.
“In
order to increase and stabilise the supply of the product, any Nigerian entity
is now free to import the product subject to existing quality specifications
and other guidelines issued by Regulatory Agencies.
“All
oil marketers will be allowed to import PMS on the basis of FOREX procured from
secondary sources and accordingly PPPRA template will reflect this in the
pricing of the product.
“Pursuant
to this, PPPRA has informed me that it will be announcing a new price band
effective today, 11th May, 2016 and that the new price for PMS will not be
above N145 per litre,’’ the minister said.
He
said the government expected that the new policy would “lead to improved supply
and competition and eventually drive down pump prices, as we have experienced
with diesel.
“In
addition, this will also lead to increased product availability and encourage
investments in refineries and other parts of the downstream sector.
“It
will also prevent diversion of petroleum products and set a stable environment
for the downstream sector in Nigeria.’’
Kachikwu
said that the government shared the pains of Nigerians but, “the inherited
difficulties of the past and the challenges of the current times imply that we
must take difficult decisions on these sorts of critical national issues’’.
He
said that along with the decision, the federal government had in the 2016
budget made an unprecedented social protection provisions to cushion the
current challenges.
“We
believe in the long term, that improved supply and competition will drive down
prices.
“The
DPR and PPPRA have been mandated to ensure strict regulatory compliance
including dealing decisively with anyone involved in hoarding petroleum
products,’’ the minister added.
The
minister said that the stakeholders’ meeting had reviewed the current fuel
scarcity and supply difficulties in the country and the exhorbitant prices
being paid by Nigerians for the product.
He
said that the meeting observed that prices ranged on the average from N150 to
N250 per litre.
He
said the meeting also noted that the main reason for the current problem “is
the inability of importers of petroleum products to source foreign exchange at
the official rate’’.
According
to him, this is due to the massive decline of foreign exchange earnings of the
federal government.
He
said that as a result, private marketers were unable to meet their approximate
50 per cent portion of total national supply of PMS.
He
said that following a detailed presentation by him, it “has now become obvious
that the only option and course of action now open to the government is to take
the decisions’’.
Kachikwu
said the meeting had in attendance the leadership of the Senate, House of Representatives,
Governors Forum, and Labour Unions .
Source: The Vanguard
0 comments:
Post a Comment