Following the controversy trailing the hike in fuel price, H.E Sylvia, petroleum minister has on Thursday during a briefing in Abuja said the high cost of fuel subsidy payment by government, forced the government to deregulate the sub-sector and allow market forces to determine the prices of the product.
Mr Sylva said this on Thursday 3 September, during a briefing in Abuja and noted that the government no longer controls the price of the product.
According to him, the Nigerian government spends over a trillion naira yearly as subsidy payment, explaining that the high cost forced the government to allow market forces to determine the prices of the product.
The Minister also revealed that government is not making any move to curtail the effect of fuel deregulation instead introducing alternatives to fuel.
Meanwhile, Department of Petroleum Resources will engage marketers to upgrade their facilities to be able to dispense the alternatives.
Revealing further, he stated that The increase was triggered after the product’s ex-depot price was increased on Wednesday from 138.62 to 151.56. According to an internal memo from the Pipelines and Product Marketing Company (PPMC), the new product price adjustment will take effect from September 2nd 2020.
By Chinenye Gertrude
GGB reports
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