Federal Government slashes petrol price by N5

The meeting between the federal government and organised labour has ended in Abuja, resulting in a reduction in the price of petrol and labour getting a commitment from the government that the distribution of free prepaid metre will begin soon across the country.

The five-hour long meeting agreed that the price of petrol be reduced by N5; meaning that the price of Petrol has been reduced from N168 to N162.44 per litre with effect from December 14.

The Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, disclosed this at the end of a meeting with labour leaders which began around 9 pm on Monday and ended at 1:30 am on Tuesday.

Recall that on Monday, the Federal Government reconvened the meeting with the organised labour to continue dialogue on the recent increase in the pump price of petrol and electricity tariff.

At the last meeting which held two weeks ago, the dialogue was suspended to enable the government do further consultations as the labour leaders insisted on the reversal of the new prices of petrol and electricity tariff

Organised labour walked out of the meeting with the federal government on the grounds of a new increment in the price of fuel when negotiations were still on course.

The Festus Keyamo led committee is to continue its assignment and ensure conclusion in record time.

Ngige stated that the committee, which will report back to the larger house on January 25, will appraise the market forces and other things that would ensure stability in the industry.

He said, “Our discussion was fruitful and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation which is the major importer and marketers of petroleum products and customers have agreed that there will be a slide down of the pump price of PMS and that the price cut will get us about N5 per litre and that the price cut will take effect from next Monday, a week today.”

Ngige also said the new price slash was a product of a joint committee of NNPC and labour representatives, which looked into ways of cutting costs.

On the aspect of electricity tariff, both sides agreed to wait till the next meeting date on January 25 to enable the special committee dealing with complaints to conclude their deliberations.