FG blames fuel price hike on demand forces
Fuel scarcity
Abdullateef Fowewe
The Federal Government has declared the decision of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL, to increase petrol price to N1,030 per litre is based on economic realities.
The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, said this on Thursday.
Dailyeconomy had earlier reported that the NNPCL had on Wednesday increased fuel pump price to N1,030 per litre in Abuja.
The minister, while reacting to the latest increase in fuel price attributed it to global energy market conditions, explaining that the NNPCL’s decision was not influenced by the Federal Government, but by market forces in line with the Petroleum Industry Act.
He stressed that the government no longer regulates petrol pricing, and NNPCL had been absorbing losses since the removal of fuel subsidies in May 2023.
He said, “The NNPCL made this decision based on market realities and not on any instruction from the government.
“Since the removal of the subsidy in May 2023, NNPCL has been absorbing the price differential to maintain the current range, but the company has now reached a point where it can no longer sustain those losses.”
Meanwhile, the Nigerian Labour Congress has decried another increase in the pump price of petrol by the NNPCL, saying it will further increase the poverty level in the country, Dailyeconomy reported.
