The Presidency has shut down the quest by former Group Managing Directors (GMDs) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and some independent marketers for another round of increase in the price of petroleum products.
Indications that President Muhammadu Buhari is not favourably disposed to a new hike in the prices of petroleum products, especially petrol, emerged on Monday after he met with the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu and the NNPC Group Managing Director, Dr Maikanti Kacalla Baru at the State House, Abuja.
Buhari’s summon of Kachikwu and Baru is believed to have been prompted by the outcome of the meeting of the former GMDs of the corporation in Abuja on Friday last week.
The former GMDs had called on the government to review upward the N145 per litre pump price of petrol on the grounds that it is no longer sustainable.
The ex-GMDs’ demand came less than four months after the Federal Government on May 11, this year, increased the price of petrol from N86 to N145 per litre.
The action was greeted with rejection across board, following the rise in transport fares, price of food stuffs and other utilities. Nigerians are yet to recover from the hardship inflicted on them by the hike in fuel price.
The GMDs had argued that the current price is no longer in line with the prevailing economic realities in the country, adding that the prevailing foreign exchange regime and landing costs of the product have negated the N145 pump price.
But after the parley with Buhari, Baru, who refused to answer questions from State House correspondents on the outcome of the meeting, especially the recommendation of his predecessors, said there is “nothing like that.”
In fact, Baru refused to stop and take questions, but asked the reporters to direct their enquiries to the Petroleum Product Pricing and Regulatory Agency (PPPRA).
When asked if fuel price hike was in the offing, he curtly replied:
“There is nothing like that. Go to PPPRA,” as he left the Villa.
Incidentally, Kachikwu, who is the immediate past GMD of NNPC, also parried questions when he emerged a few minutes after and directed reporters to meet Baru.
When pressed further on possibility of new fuel price hike, the minister said: “There is no move to that effect.”
Kachikwu’s Senior Technical Assistant, Johnson Awoyomi, had represented him at the meeting of the former GMDs of NNPC, which was also attended by Dr Edmund Daukoru, Chief Odoliyi Lolomar, Dr Thomas M.A. John, Mr Lawrence Amu, Dr Jackson Gaius-Obaseki, Mr. Funsho Kupolokun, Dr Abubakar Lawal Yar’Adua and Dr Joseph Thlama Dawha.
Before then, oil marketers on August 8th, 2016 hinted that the pump price of petrol might increase from N145 due to the continued scarcity of foreign exchange to finance the importation of the commodity.
The government liberalised the petroleum downstream sector on May 11, 2016 and announced an increase in the pump prices of petrol from N86 to a maximum of N145 per litre.
Tuesday, 6 September 2016
Home
Unlabelled
President Muhammadu Buhari Summons Kachikwu, NNPC GMD over clamour for fuel price hike
President Muhammadu Buhari Summons Kachikwu, NNPC GMD over clamour for fuel price hike
About Eazy Feeds
EazyFeeds Blog is an Online Media Outlet Dedicated to Bringing You First Hand Information, Trending News And Gist At Your Finger Tips. We Believe In Feeding Our Audience with Undiluted Information and Real-Time News Headlines as It Breaks. We Carefully Source Out For Our Media Feeds so as to Deliver Swiftly and Prompt to Your Nourishment Online
Stay Connected With Us on Social Media 24/7
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
';
(function() {
var dsq = document.createElement('script'); dsq.type = 'text/javascript'; dsq.async = true;
dsq.src = '//' + disqus_shortname + '.disqus.com/embed.js';
(document.getElementsByTagName('head')[0] || document.getElementsByTagName('body')[0]).appendChild(dsq);
})();
No comments:
Post a Comment
Feel Free To Leave A Comment