As the scarcity of Premium Motor Spirit, also known as petrol, persisted on Sunday, oil marketers predicted that the price of the commodity would exceed N800/litre once the PMS subsidy was removed.
The high cost of petrol subsidies, according to industry operators, was a burden on the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited and contributed to the prolonged crisis in the downstream oil sector. NNPC is Nigeria’s sole importer of gasoline.
Zainab Ahmed, Minister of Finance, Budget, and National Planning, recently suggested that the government gradually withdraw PMS subsidies, emphasizing that the budgetary allocation for subsidies would expire in June.
However, oil marketers told Punch that while it may be prudent to remove the subsidy, Nigerians should be aware that the price of petrol could rise to N800/litre once it is no longer subsidized.
They urged the Federal Government to ensure that all necessary measures and infrastructure were put in place to ensure a less stressful subsidy removal regime before implementing the decision.
“If the government fails to take the appropriate measures, and they say they want to remove fuel subsidy, the situation will be worse than this, the masses will suffer. “How can you remove subsidies when you don’t have this product (petrol),” said Mohammed Shuaibu, Secretary, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Abuja-Suleja.
“Where is the product if the government removes the subsidy?” he added. If you remove the subsidy, perhaps by that time, the way diesel is sold at N800-N900/litre, we could be buying petrol at N800/litre, if not more.
Punch
