FG hints at fresh petrol price increase, TUC kicks

The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, on Tuesday said Nigerians should be prepared for a higher regime of the pump price of petrol, following the rise in crude oil price in the international market currently hovering around $60 per barrel.

But reacting to the issue, President of Trade Union Congress, Quadri Olaleye, condemned the move and wondered why the government was always in rush to increase fuel price any time there was a rise in crude price at the international market.

According to the pricing template of the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), the landing cost of petrol is over N179 per litre, while the expected Open Market Price (OMP) is about N202 per litre.

However, the product is still being sold for between the N162 and N165 per litre price band.

Sylva urged Nigerians to prepare for the pains of the increase, saying that it could no longer absorb the difference.

He said, “Since we are optimising everything, the NNPC needs to also think about the optimisation of product cost because as we all know, oil prices are where they are today, $60.

“As desirable as this is, this has serious consequences as well on product prices. So, we want to take the pleasure and we should as a country be ready to take the pain. Today the NNPC is taking a big hit from this. We all know that there is no provision in the budget for subsidy.

“So, somewhere down the line, I believe that the NNPC cannot continue to take this blow. There is no way because there is no provision for it. As a country, let us take the benefits of the higher crude oil prices and I hope we will also be ready to take a little pain on the side of higher product prices.”

But the TUC leader kicked against any fresh plan to raise fuel price, wondering why the government never for once deemed it fit to bring down the price of petrol when there was a fall in price of crude oil.

He told Daily Trust in a telephone interview, “Why is it that the government is always in a hurry to implement an increase any time crude oil price rises in the international market? Last time when the price went down in the market, Nigerian government didn’t reduce the price of the PMS.

“Why are they now rushing to increase it? They need to be intelligent with it if they want more problems in this country. Besides, we are still expecting the report of the technical committee set up last time by February 22; so, why the rush?”