The Federal Government has allayed the fear of purported increment in the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), popularly known as petrol, from N145 per litre.
Addressing reporters on Friday in Abuja, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr Ibe Kachikwu, asked Nigerians to ignore such reports with an assurance that fuel pump price remains unchanged.
He also criticised those circulating the speculations saying they were being unfair to Nigerians following the difficulty they had gone through during the yuletide.
“We are not increasing price from N145,” said Kachikwu. “I thought we should make this very clear, this is not a matter for speculation; anybody who does speculation is not being helpful to Nigerians.”
“They’ve gone through a very difficult Christmas period. We are working night and day to try and find solutions,” he added.
The minister further said the fuel crisis should not be politicised but rather, the people should support the government’s effort to ensure the nation overcomes the challenge.
He said: “It is not a political issue, people should step out of that goalpost. We want to provide succour to Nigerians, we want to provide product at N145 – that is the presidential mandate, that is the Federal Executive Council mandate; nobody is having a deliberation on that.”
Working Refineries Solution To Fuel Crisis, Says Kachikwu
Kachikwu also briefed journalists on the issues discussed in the past few days at the stakeholders’ meeting which was convened to find a lasting solution to Nigeria’s fuel challenges.
“The essence of our meeting yesterday (Thursday) and the essence of the committee’s meeting which began a few days ago, is to find mechanisms to ensure that queues do not come back to Nigeria,” he said.
“That there is a wetting of all the stations so there’s product available every time for Nigerians, that private marketers who had pulled out of participation – that we deal with their problems so that they can participate effectively in the supply of refined petroleum products in the country; all within the parameters of the N145 pump price,” he added.
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