The Minister of States for Petroleum, Timipre Sylva, has disowned the reported increase in the price of petrol as announced earlier by the Petroleum Products Pricing Agency, PPPRA.
In a statement to journalists on Friday, Mr Sylva said neither he nor President Muhammadu Buhari had approved the decision to increase the fuel price, calling the PPPRA announcement completely untrue and urging Nigerians to disregard the information.
Reiterating that the government has been in consultation with organized labour to find the least painful option to respond to the global rise in the price of crude, which in turn has inevitably led to increase in the price of PMS, he said the government would not unilaterally abandon the discussions and act in the manner suggested by the information under reference.
The minister also gave the assurance that the engagement with organized labour and other stakeholders will continue even as the calculations to arrive at a reasonable price regime is being done; all in good faith, and the final outcome will be communicated at the appropriate time.
He urged all marketers to maintain the current pump price of PMS, while also apologizing to all Nigerians for any distress and inconvenience the information might have caused.
Recall that the PPPRA, late Thursday, announced a new fuel price of N212.6 per liter, in contradiction of NNPC’s earlier assurance that the price of petrol would be maintained, a development which sparked outrage across the country on Friday.
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