There Will Be No Fuel Price Hike Until… – FG

The federal government of Nigeria has assured Nigerians that the pump price of petrol won’t be increased until the conclusion of negotiations with the organized labour and other stakeholders.

The Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige gave this assurance in a statement on Friday.

According to the Minister, an appropriate price would be announced for petrol in the country at a later time but not without taking into consideration the effect it may have on Nigerians.

Ngige in the statement signed by the spokesman of the ministry of labour, Charles Akpan noted that the next meeting between the Federal Government and the organised labour will hold immediately after the Easter break.

The statement said: “there will be no increase in the price of PMS for now as discussions are still ongoing between government and the organised labour as well as other stakeholders on the matter.”

“I have made contact with the relevant authorities, the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources and the NNPC and wish to assure members of the public, especially the organised labour and workers that there is no such increase for now.”

“We have an ongoing discussions and standing committees comprising labour and government on one hand and another, comprising the office of the Vice President, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Group Managing Director of the NNPC and the Ministers of Labour, Petroleum and Finance.”

On the N212 per litre price regime which suddenly surfaced on Friday morning, Ngige said it was an attempt by some people to force a price on the government.

According to him, “The present attempt to hoist a fait accompli on the government and all its efforts runs against the ongoing discussions. We hence wish to warn the insidious harbingers of such information not to portray government as cruel, irresponsible and unamenable to social dialogue and collective bargaining.”

Ngige said, “Government will at the right time do an appropriate pricing for petroleum products but not without taking other issues into consideration. This is to ensure that Nigerians don’t suffer the pangs of any price increase in petroleum products.

“Government has deregulated petroleum products and market forces have to dictate pricing. That notwithstanding, government has decided to give it a human face by agreeing to some palliative measures that will make the price realistic and affordable to the ordinary Nigerians.

“We, therefore, wish to re-assure our partners in the organised labour, the NLC, TUC and affiliate unions that there will be no increase in the price of PMS for now. They should therefore continue to cooperate with government side to have a fruitful outcome from the discussions.”

It will be recalled as earlier reported by Naija News that the federal government has disclosed that the recent fuel price hike noticed by Nigerians on Friday wasn’t approved by President Muhammadu Buhari.

The Minister of State for Petroleum, Timipreye Sylva made the submission in his reaction to the increase in the pump price of petrol witnessed by Nigerians across the country on Friday morning.

The Minister urged Nigerians to disregard the pricing template published by the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) which pegged the new pump price of petrol at N212.61 per litre.

He stated further that there would be no increase in the pump price of petrol until the conclusion of talks with the organized labour in the country.