FG Finally Removes fuel subsidy, petrol Goes for N145 per litre

The Federal Government of Nigeria has announced the removal of subsidy on petroleum products, declaring that any Nigerian entity is now free to import petroleum products into the country, subject to existing quality specifications and other guidelines issued by regulatory agencies.

Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr Ibe Kachikwu, made the announcement on Wednesday. He said the pronouncement would effectively ended the fuel subsidy regime.

According to  Kachikwu, all oil marketers will be allowed to import the product on the basis of foreign exchange procured from secondary sources and that PPPRA template will reflect this in the pricing of the product.

The minister further said that new price band effective from 11th May, 2016, would put the retail price of petrol at N145 and below.

He said: “Pursuant to this, PPPRA has informed me that it will be announcing a new price band effective today, 11th May, 2016 and that the new price for PMS will not be above N145 per litre.”

Kachikwu explained that the decision to remove the subsidy was reached after a meeting attended by the leadership of the Senate, House of Representatives, Governors Forum, and Labour Unions such as the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), Trade Union Congress (TUC), Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) and Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria(PENGASSAN).

He noted that the persistent scarcity being expressed in the country the inability of importers of petroleum products to source foreign exchange at the official rate due to the massive decline of foreign exchange earnings of the federal government.

“As a result, private marketers have been unable to meet their approximate 50% portion of total national supply of PMS,” Kachikwu stated.