Nigerians Would Adjust To Deregulated Petrol Price – Sylva

Timipre Sylva, the minister of state for petroleum resources, has stated that Nigerians would adjust to the deregulation of the pump price of petrol, just as they adjusted to similar actions with diesel and kerosene.

Sylva made this known, when he was speaking with state house correspondents today, after a meeting they had with President Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja.

According to the minister, petrol is mostly used by the elites while diesel and kerosene are more important to the ordinary citizens.

He said trucks which more food across the country uses diesel, adding that the Nigerian masses use kerosene, which has since been deregulated.

“Look at it, a situation where diesel has been deregulated long ago, a situation where kerosene has been deregulated long ago, and these are the fuels the poorest people in Nigeria interact with more. Why do I say that?” he said.

“If you want to transport food from the north to the south, it will be by trucks that are run by diesel, not with petrol. Those trucks that transport food from the north to the south are usually run by diesel.

“Kerosene is the preferred fuel at the lowest level of our society. These have been deregulated long ago. So, what is the problem with deregulating petrol, which is mostly used by the elite?

“Let us be fair to this country, let us be fair to the poor people in this country.

“If we have deregulated what they were using, then there is actually no reason why we should continue to subsidise petrol. I feel so. That’s my personal feeling.”