By Oloniruha Emmanuel
A coalition of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) on Thursday drummed support for the recent increment in the price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) across the country.
The coalition made the call in a statement jointly signed by its Lead Convener, Dr Basil Musa and the Co-Convener, Malam Haruna Maigida and made available to journalists in Abuja.
The coalition explained that market forces attributable to the fluctuations in foreign exchange is responsible for the recent hike.
The coalition which said it has about 65 members listed Oil and Gas Transparency and Advocacy Group, Civil Society Coalition for Economic Development (CED), Centre for Citizens Rights, Centre for Good Governance Advocacy and Action against Corruption in Nigeria among them.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that major marketers and members of Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) have began sale of petrol at N617 per liter from its previous N540.
The CSOs appealed to Nigerians to be patient with government in view of the hardship caused by the recent increment.
The coalition assured that the recent development would ensure availability of fuel at filling stations, while it would further stop activities of smugglers from neighbouring countries.
“Subsidy regime had previously been favourable to some neighbouring African countries until its removal by President Bola Tinubu recently.
“The cost of pump price in other African countries is still higher, a development responsible for smuggling of PMS to those countries.
“We believe that the current increment to N617 per pump price would discourage smuggling and the development has reflected in the drastic reduction in the imaginary consumption of 60 million litres to 40 million per day,” it said.
The coalition said apart from palliative measures being put in place by government to mitigate the hardship occasioned by the increment, it called for full deregulation of the mainstream and downstream sectors.
It said full deregulation would break the monopoly of fuel importation and eventually ensure that Nigeria’s local refineries work optimally.
The CSOs commended the availability of petrol across filling stations in the country and disappearance of initial queues due to panic buying, assuring that the current price will still come down on its own.(NAN)
