No petrol price increase in June, says Sylva

Timipre Sylva, the minister of state for petroleum, has again assured that there will be no increase in the price of premium motor spirit, better known as petrol, in June.

The price of petrol stands at N162 per litre.

Sylva announced this in a press statement released on Friday in Abuja.

In April, Mele Kyari, general managing director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), had announced that the price of petrol will not be increased until ongoing negotiations between labour unions and government are concluded.

Kyari had warned that the NNPC cannot continue to bear the subsidy burden on its books, noting that it pays between N100-120 billion a month to keep the pump price at the current levels.

The Nigeria Governors’ Forum this week also recommended the full deregulation of the price of petrol, saying that the current arrangement of subsidy payment is “unsustainable”.

In the statement, Sylva said that despite the huge burden of under-recovery, the federal government is not in a hurry to increase the price of petrol to reflect current market realities.

“The current price of petrol will be retained in the month of June until the ongoing engagement with organized labour is concluded,” the statement read.

“This clarification becomes necessary in the light of recent reports regarding the resolution of the Nigeria Governors Forum to increase the pump price of petrol.

“In this regard, I would like to strongly urge petroleum products marketers not to engage in any activity that could jeopardize the seamless supply and distribution system in place.

“I also urge members of the public to avoid panic buying because the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has enough stock of petroleum products to keep the nation wet.”