By Abiola Olawale
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, has debunked the announcement contained in a template released by the Petroleum Products Pricing Agency, (PPPRA), announcing increment in the price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), also known as petrol to N212.6 per litre, describing it as ‘completely untrue’.
Following the reaction of Nigerians to the suspected hike in petrol price, the Minister who apologised to Nigerians for any inconveniences suffered as a result of the misleading announcement by PPPRA said there was no plan to increase the price of the commodity.
This is also coming after the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), had on Friday, insisted that the ex-depot price of fuel remains unchanged, contrary to the template made available on the official website of PPPRA.
In addition, the PPPRA, has also deleted the template which had earlier announced the price hike on its website.
However, Sylva, in a statement released on Friday, said neither he nor President Muhammadu Buhari had approved the decision to increase the retail price to N212 per litre.
The statement reads, “Dear Nigerians, you are by now very aware of the news trending that the federal govt has increased the price of petrol to N212.6 per liter. Irrespective of the source of that information, I want to assure you that it is completely untrue. Neither Mr. President who is the Minister of Petroleum Resources, nor my humble self who deputise for him as Minister of State, has approved that the pump price of petrol should be increased by one naira. I would therefore urge you to disregard this misleading information. You are all aware that for the past few months the govt has been in consultation with organized labour to find the least painful option to respond to the global rise in the price of crude, which in turn has inevitably led to increase in the price of PMS. It is unthinkable that govt would unilaterally abandon these discussions and act in the manner suggested by the information under reference. Cynicism and deceit have never been the trademark of the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.
“I would like to equally assure you that the engagement with organized labour and other stakeholders will continue even as the calculations to arrive at a reasonable price regime are being done; all in good faith, and you will be availed of the final outcome at the appropriate time. Until then, all marketers are strongly advised to maintain the current pump price of PMS before the emergence of this unfortunate information. Those who may want to take advantage of this unfortunate misinformation to extort Nigerians should not give in to such temptation as there are regulatory mechanisms that govt can enforce to protect its citizens. In conclusion, I want to sincerely apologise to all Nigerians for any distress and inconvenience, the unfortunate information might have caused.”
