The Federal Government on Thursday said it had directed the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation to clear the petrol queues that had refused to disappear in Abuja and neighbouring states before the commencement of the 2018 Nigeria International Petroleum Summit.
It also stated that the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources and some of its agencies were working out measures that would ensure the retention of pump price of petrol at N145 per litre despite a landing cost of about N171 per litre. Kachikwu said it would not be nice to have international guests face petrol queues in the Federal Capital Territory when they attend the 2018 NIPS, which begins on Sunday.
The minister stated that the government would need to address the fundamental policy issues to enable the queues go away, “especially in an area where the pricing puts pressure between the landing price and the sale price.”
He, however, reiterated that the government was not ready to effect any pump price increment, adding that President Muhammadu Buhari was sympathetic to the sufferings of Nigerians in this regard and thus committed to keeping the price at N145 per litre.