Sylva: FG consulting on reducing petrol pump price

Timipre Sylva, the minister of state for petroleum resources, says consultations are ongoing to decide if the pump price of petrol will be reduced.

This, he said, is related to the drop in crude oil prices.

As at 9pm on Friday, Brent crude which is the global benchmark was trading at $34.88 per barrel.

This has, in turn, resulted in a drop in the landing cost of petrol.

As of Tuesday, March 10, the landing cost of petrol was N95.16 per litre according to the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA).

Subsequently, the expected open market price of petrol was N114.53 per litre.

“This is a developing issue. We are still consulting, we are still following it closely. Of course, usually, the product prices follow the crude oil price but we are still consulting, we’ll get back to you, please, be patient,” he told journalists in Abuja on Friday.

Sylva had visited the presidential villa in Aso Rock alongside Zainab Ahmed, the minister of finance, budget and national planning, and Godwin Emefiele, governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria.

They visited President Muhammadu Buhari to submit an interim report on the impact of coronavirus on the economy.

Commenting on the report submitted to the president, Ahmed said: “What we have been mandated to do is to ensure that the business of government continues to run as much as possible normally, that government agencies are funded but there must be continuous investments in critical infrastructure that would ensure continuous growth and also concentrate on programmes and projects that will enhance employment of our people.

“We are looking at ways and means in which the revenue of government will be stabilized and that we are able to fund the states through the FAAC process at a level that is averagely expected and planned for both the federal as well as the national budget.

“So as we finish our consultations next week, we will be expecting some approvals and then we will be meeting with you to inform you of the specific approvals that we have been able to obtain from his excellency the president.”

According to Ahmed, the federal government has released N285 billion for the implementation of the 2020 budget and $220 million as counterpart funding for railway projects.

The ministries of transport, Niger Delta and works and housing were said to have received some of the released funds

Emefiele assured that the committee will come up with a mechanism that will “make it possible both for the federal and the state government to be able to conduct their businesses” despite reduced oil prices.