No plans to increase price of Petrol, says Sylva

THE Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, says the Federal Government has no plans to increase the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) also known as petrol in June.

Sylva said this in a statement in Abuja on Friday.

“Once again, it has become necessary to assure Nigerians that despite the huge burden of under-recovery, the Federal Government is not in a hurry to increase the price of Premium Motor Spirit (Petrol) to reflect current market realities.

“The current price of petrol will be retained in the month of June until the ongoing engagement with organised labour is concluded.

“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,” he said.

He further urged marketers not to engage in misconduct and urged the public not to engage in panic buying of products.

“I would like to strongly urge petroleum products marketers not to engage in any activity that could jeopardise 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,” he said.

It will be recalled that the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) on May 20 at its virtual meeting considered the report of a committee headed by Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai.

The Forum accepted the committee’s recommendation that backs full deregulation of petrol, and suggested that the pump price of the product should hover around N385 per litre.