Fuel Price: PH Residents Kick Against Proposed N408.5 Per Litre

A cross section of Port Harcourt residents has expressed disappointment over the the Nigerian Governors Forum’s (NGF) push for the full deregulation of the downstream petroleum sector that will leave petrol price at N408.5 per litre.
A civil servant, Mr. Uchenna Daniel, said the proposal was unthinkable given the state of the nation’s economy, especially when Nigerians were already struggling to buy petrol at N165 -N175/litre in the state.
Another respondent, a Miss Imam Awajis described the proposal as insensitive, saying if it becomes a reality, the poor masses would suffer more, because they pay for everything they consume,”.
An economic analyst, Mr Frank Eke, expressed dismay that Nigerian governors were not in tune with happenings in their states.
“They are not even aware of the level of insecurity in the country. They just woke up one morning and they are agitating for complete deregulation. This shows they don’t care about the lives of the common man.”
He continued, “the proposed price will set back the nation’s economy to a worse state than it already is.”
He advised the Federal Government to discountenance the governors’ proposal in the best interest of Nigerians.
Recall that at a virtual meeting last Wednesday, the committee chaired by Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai in a report, recommended a Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) otherwise called petrol price of between N380 per litre and N408.5 per litre while calling for the immediate removal of fuel subsidy.
El-Rufai had said the current subsidy regime was unsustainable, and only smugglers and illegal marketers benefit from it. He also said Nigeria could not fully benefit from the recent production cut by Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), which was meant to keep fuel prices high, because of subsidies.
“Between N70 billion and N210bn is estimated to be spent every month to keep gasoline price at N162 per litre, this is below the cost price and the remittance to the federation account will shrink to less than N50bn per month or even zero if threats persist,” he said.
“The committee recommends PMS pump price increment from the current N162per litre to N408.5 per litre (negotiations with organized labour unions). N380 per litre (settlement with organised labour),” he said.

By: Tonye Nria-Dappa