The Nigerian Government would on January 1, 2016 reduce the pump price of the petrol to N85 per litre.
The product officially sells for N87 per litre, although it sells for higher prices in some states of the federation.
The Minister of State for Petroleum, Emmanuel Kachikwu, disclosed this to journalists at the Port Harcourt Refinery Company (PHRC), where he spent Christmas inspecting the plant.
Asked when the Federal Government would release the new price template of the Petroleum Product Pricing Regulation Agency (PPPRA), Mr. Kachikwu said he approved the new price for the agency on Thursday.
“Like I said, we have done a modulation calculation and it is showing us below N87,” Mr. Kachikwu said. “I imagine that if PPPRA publishes it today, it will become effective immediately. But the 1st of January that is when we are looking at.”
According to him, the new price is below the current N87 per litre and it would now convince Nigerians that the pricing modulation that the Federal Government promised to embark on a few days ago was not a trick.
He noted that following analyses and research, government realized the country could fluctuate fuel price in accordance with the crude oil market fundamentals.
Justifying government’s reasons for scrapping the Petroleum Support Fund otherwise known as oil subsidy, Mr. Kachikwu explained that government could no longer afford to subsidize the product following the fraud that has attended its operation.
He added that it had become clear that government earnings were dipping on daily basis.
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