The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, has said that the decision of the Federal Government to continue intervening in fixing the fuel price is in an effort to protect consumers from exploitation by oil marketers.
The Minister who spoke to journalists in Abuja, stated that the deregulation of the downstream petroleum industry, which commenced from March 19, came into effect as a result of the unpleasant experiences that the government has had with oil marketers who deliberately refused to bring down the cost of diesel and other petroleum products despite reduction in landing costs.
He said:
“Deregulation of the downstream petroleum sector was approved on the 19th of March. What was announced on that day was already deregulation, However, PMS and kerosene are strategic to the country, hence, we cannot allow their prices to be determined wholly by marketers. Consumers had to be protected. This is what obtains globally.
Sylva also mentioned that despite the slash in the pump price of PMS, the prices of food items and other commodity were yet to come down.
“We have reduced fuel price, but the prices of commodities in the market are not going down. But if we increase, you will increase the price of PMS, cost of these same items would skyrocket. Now, the market players should be held responsible to ensure prices do not go up inordinately while prices of fuel go up,” he said.
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