The Federal Government says the current crisis in the Middle East is responsible for the latest hike in the pump price of petrol in Nigeria.
Minister of Information and National Orientation,Mohammed, Idris,told DailyTrust that the government should not be held responsible for the latest hike in petrol price.
According to him,the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited made the decision in response to prevailing circumstances in the energy industry.
He emphasised that the company did not act on any instruction from the federal government, as the government can no longer fix prices of petroleum products, in line with the provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).
He explained that with the subsidy regime ending since May 2023, the NNPCL had only been paying differential to keep the price within the range it had been,but the company said it could no longer absorb the losses.
He added:“The differential you’re seeing is a result of different factors. One of them is the crisis in the Middle East. There’s volatility in the market. Therefore, the prices of petroleum products are going up, consistent with what is happening with other operators in the industry globally. Secondly, NNPC cannot continue to absorb these losses for Nigeria because as a limited liability company, it would be operating at a loss”.
He implored Nigerians to continue to show understanding with the NNPCL and the government, assuring that in the long run the prices would ultimately come down.
He assured that the government would continue to invest the savings from removal of subsidies to improve other critical sectors like healthcare, education, infrastructure,and security.
