FG rejects Governors’ N380/litre Proposal for the second time

The Federal Government is adamant it won’t accept any recommendation for an increment in fuel price until the ongoing negotiations with the organised labour were concluded.

This is coming barely three months after governors’ recommended shooting petrol prices up to between N380 and N408.5 per litre and removing fuel subsidy.

Oil marketers under the aegis of Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria, on Friday, demanded an immediate end to fuel subsidy in line with the state governors’ recommendation of May.

The President of PETROAN, Dr Billy Gillis-Harry, insisted that oil marketers’ position that fuel subsidy should be stopped remained.

However, the Federal Government reiterated its stance of May, stating that no decision on the adjustment of petrol price would be reached until the ongoing negotiations with the organised labour were concluded.

The Special Assistant on Media to the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Garba-Deen Muhammad, stated that he would re-echo the position of his boss, Sylva, who had earlier stated the position of the Federal Government on the matter.

Muhammad said people were free to make analyses and recommendations but stressed that the government’s position on petrol price had not changed.

He said;

“The truth is that the key component for us to make the decision is basically for us to have a consensus with labour. So regardless of what the governors or anybody else is saying, labour is the key partner in this project.

“The negotiations with labour officials are ongoing. A decision will not be reached until the negotiations are over. So anybody can say what they want.”

“The fact is that the labour represents the Nigerian people and the government is working with the Nigerian people. So it is a cardinal objective that the labour is carried along.”