The federal government has assured Nigerians that there will be no further hike in the price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS).
This was disclosed by Ajuri Ngelale, the special adviser to President Bola Tinubu on media and publicity.
Speaking to journalists in Abuja on Tuesday, Ngelale said the proposed strike by the NLC is premature.
“The president wishes first to state that it is incumbent upon all stakeholders in the country to hold their peace. We have heard very recently from the organised labour movement in the country with respect to their most recent threat,” he said.
“We believe that the threat was premature and that there is a need on all sides to ensure that fact-finding and diligence is done on what the current state of the downstream and midstream petroleum industry is before any threats or conclusions are arrived at or issued.
“Secondly, Mr. President, wishes to assure Nigerians…that there will be no increase in the pump price of petroleum motor spirit anywhere in the country.
“We repeat, the president affirms that there will be no increase in the pump price of petroleum motor spirit.”
The NNPC Retail had earlier claimed it did “not have the intention to increase our PMS pump prices as widely speculated”.
Ngelale said Tinubu is determined to maintain competitive tension within all sub-sectors of the petroleum industry.
He said the president is determined to ensure that “our policy drawn up as well as policy implemented follows the cue that there will not be any single one entity dominating the market”.
“The market has been deregulated. It has been liberalised and we are moving forward in that direction without looking back,” Ngelale said.
“The president also wishes to affirm that there are presently inefficiencies within the midstream and downstream petroleum sub-sectors that once very swiftly addressed and cleaned up will ensure that we can maintain prices where they are without having to resort to a reversal of this administration’s deregulation policy in the petroleum industry.”
Meanwhile., there were reports that President Tinubu is considering a “temporary subsidy” on petrol as crude oil prices and foreign exchange rates continue to soar.
There is yet no final decision, presidency sources were quoted by TheCable, but the proposal is “firmly on the table” as Nigerians continue to groan under harsh economic realities following the removal of petrol subsidy in May 2023.
