Marketers have rejected the reduction in petrol price
Fuel marketers have kicked against the N5 reduction in petrol pump price announced by the Federal Government of Nigeria on Tuesday.
The marketers said the Federal Government does not have the power to determine the price of petrol unless the country returns to the subsidy system.
The Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige, had announced the petrol price cut at the end of a meeting with labour leaders which began around 9 pm on Monday and ended at 1:30 am on Tuesday.
However, The marketers responded, saying the reduction is mere media show.
They noted that they are yet to receive a circular from the government concerning the reduction.
The National President, Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria, Dr Billy Gillis-Harry, on his part, said the interference by government in petrol pricing had continued to defeat the purpose of deregulation.
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, had said in September that the Federal Government had stepped back in fixing the price of petrol, adding that market forces and crude oil price would determine the cost of the product.
Gillis-Harry said marketers had lost millions of naira as a result of the frequent price adjustments.
However, When contacted to find out when the government would issue a circular to marketers regarding the price reduction, the Special Assistant to the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Mr Garba-Deen Mohammed, promised to revert but had yet to do so.
The Federal Government removed the petrol subsidy in March this year after reducing the pump price of petrol to N125 per litre from N145 on the back of the sharp drop in crude oil prices. The price reduction lasted till June.
Nigerians have seen increases in the pump prices of petrol four times in the past five months, rising from N121.50–N123.50 per litre in June to N140.80-N143.80 in July, N148-N150 in August, N158-N162 in September, and N163-N170 in November.
