Following the reaction that trailed the increase in the fuel pump price last week from the official N165/litre to N175/litre, the Federal Government has cleared the air that it has not increased any fuel pump price above the regulated one. The Minister of Petroleum, Timipre Sylva stated this during the Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) stallholders meeting held in Abuja yesterday. As the regulated price is still officially N165/litre, some filing stations due to the cost of transportation have been dispensing as high as N180/litre in the last three weeks.
Against this backdrop, petrol subsidy claim has grown as high as N2.6trillion in the first half of 2022 above crude oil sale receipt from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, limited.
The Minister said, “Well, I can tell you authoritatively that we have not deregulated. The government is still subsidising, if there are increases in the price, it is not from the government, it is probably from the marketers,”.
Sylva explained “But, of course, I will talk to the NMDPRA’s chief executive to ensure that they regulate the prices. But this is not from the government because we have not deregulated.”
However, the Association of Distributors and Transporters of Petroleum Products (ADITOP) had continued to kick over unpaid bridging costs owed to its members by the government.
Bridging cost is the cost of transporting the product from deporting to various destinations and filling stations across the country.
The ADITOP lament that with the present cost of diesel, they are facing a lot of challenges is footing the cost of transporting the product.
