Despite calls from different Nigerians, including organised labour for the reversal of the fuel subsidy policy but government has announced that there will be no fuel price increase for now but deregulation policy stands.

Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Ajuri Ngelale, on Tuesday disclosed that “The president wishes to assure Nigerians, following the announcements by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC), just yesterday that there will be no increase in the pump price of petroleum motor spirit anywhere in the country”, adding: “We repeat, the president affirms that there will be no increase in the pump price of petroleum motor spirit”,

This development is coming as a response to insinuations that the President was planning to reinstate a temporary subsidy on petrol to cushion the hardship Nigerians are facing from the fuel subsidy removal, which has brought a hike in prices of commodities and transportation in the country.

President Tinubu also acknowledged that there are inefficiencies within the downstream sector that are contributing to the fuel price controversy. He assured that all loopholes associated with the smooth delivery of petroleum products in the country will be addressed without delay.

According to him: “The president also wishes to affirm that there are presently inefficiencies within the midstream and downstream petroleum sub-sectors that once very swiftly addressed and cleaned up will ensure that we can maintain prices where they are without having to resort to a reversal of this administration’s deregulation policy in the petroleum industry”.

Although government promised palliatives to cushion the impact of the fuel subsidy removal they have either not been implemented or their effects yet to be felt by Nigerians. Labour unions have vowed to embark on an immediate strike if the price of petrol is further increased.

Also, there is a growing fear across the country that a further increase in the pump price of premium motor spirit also known as Petrol in the coming days, causing Nigerians to start queuing up at filling stations to save for the rainy days. As a result, the organised labour had also threatened to embark on a nationwide strike if the cost of Petrol jump up.

However, in his press briefing yesterday night, the Special Adviser to President on Media and Publicity Ajuri Ngelale debunked the widespread information about the further increase in petrol prices and that the government would reverse the deregulation policy.

According to Mr. Ngelale, the president has examined the situation in the country and he concluded that the price of petrol should be maintained at current prices. “the president is convinced, based on the information before him, that we can maintain current pricing without reversing our deregulation policy by swiftly cleaning up existing inefficiencies within the midstream and downstream petroleum sector to stabilise the price,” he said.

The president spokesperson also noted that the threat by the organised labour to embark on strike is premature, given that they did not embark on fact finding before reaching such a conclusion. Mr Ngelale urged the country to hold their peace as the president is working to stabilise the oil and sector in the country.

“The president wishes first to state that it is incumbent upon all stakeholders in the country to hold their peace.

“We have heard very recently from the organized labour movement in the country concerning their most recent threat. We believe that the threat was premature and that there is a need on all sides to ensure that fact-finding and diligence is done on what the current state of the downstream and midstream petroleum industry is before any threats or conclusions are arrived at or issued”, he said

“Secondly, Mr. President wishes to assure Nigerians, following the announcement by the NNPC limited just yesterday that there will be no increase in the pump price of petroleum motor spirit anywhere in the country.

Mr Ngelale further explained that one of the decisions of the president is to ensure that no single entity dominates the supply of the petroleum products to create even distribution of fuel across the the country, adding that such healthy competition will help the government to clean the inefficiencies both in the downstream and midstream sectors .

He also drew comparisons between Nigeria and other West African countries stating that the country is the only nation enjoying the cheapest cost of Petrol.

He noted that other countries in the continent are buying fuel at a much higher price, stating that the deregulation has made the country reduce its consumption rate.

“We repeat, the president affirms that there will be no increase in the pump price of premium motor spirit. We also wish to affirm that the president is determined to maintain competitive tension within all sub-sectors of the petroleum industry.

“He is determined to ensure that our policy drawn up as well as policy implemented follows the cue that there will be no single entity dominating the market. The market has been deregulated; it has been liberalized and we are moving forward in that direction without looking back.

“I wish at this juncture to also provide a set of graphics which the president has authorized me to share with Nigerians that otherwise would be confidential. These are graphics supplied to Mr. president by NNPCL.

“In the graphic, what you will find is the present cost of refined premium motor spirit at the pump in each of the West African nations that are our neighbours and I’ll just name some for example, even as I know, you will be showing your audiences the graphics, which the president has graciously approved for public release today.

“In Senegal, the pump price today is N1,273 equivalent per litre; Guinea N1,075 per litre; Côte d’ Ivore N1,048 per litre equivalent; Mali N1,113 per litre; Central African Republic N1,414 per litre, while Nigeria is currently averaging between N568 and N630 per litre.

“We are currently the cheapest, most affordable purchasing state in the West African sub-region by some distance. There is no country that is below N700 per litre.

“So, this is the backdrop we have seen, that at the inception of our deregulation policy as of June 1 as Mr. President took office, we have seen PMS consumption in the country drop immediately from 67 million litres per day, down to 46 million litres. The impact is evident.

“What it also means though, is that we are not at the end of the tunnel. There is still a bit of darkness to travel through to get towards light. And we are pleading with Nigerians to please be patient with us.

“As we promised from the beginning, we will be open with Nigerians, we will be transparent with them. And we are ready to show you exactly what it is that our nation is facing with respect to the illiquidity in the market in terms of foreign exchange, as a result of what is now known to have been a gross mismanagement of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, over the course of several years preceding this time”, Mr Ajuri Ngelale concluded.

Many Nigerians had hoped that President would take a similar route with Kenyan government which had also recently removed its fuel subsidy but has reintroduced it upon violent protests by the citizens.

However, with the current development, the Nigerian government is still maintaining its stance on the subsidy removal policy, which has been having a ripple effect on the citizens.