President Muhammadu Buhari has reportedly rejected subtle move by marketers to increase fuel price.
The Nation reports that Buhari has also said no to the return of fuel subsidy.
“The key issue is a price war. The marketers have made representation to the Federal Government and the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu, to allow price hike of petroleum products and leave the sector to market forces.
“The President and Senior Government Officials are, however, opposed to price hike because of its spiral effect on the socio-economic life of the nation. It also has grave political implications for the survival of the present government.
“In the last few months, the government has been trying to cope through the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) until there was stress in the supply chain following threats by PENGASSAN and the challenge in Lagos,” a source stated.
A Minister, also unnamed by The Nation, said: “Before the crisis, the nation used to consume between 30 million to 35 million litres of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) daily but since this current challenge started, the consumption has shot up to 80 million litres per day.
“Without a soothsayer, it is obvious that something had gone wrong. We cannot just rule out sabotage including diversion of products.”
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