Former Minister of State for Defence, Musiliu Obanikoro, suggests that the Federal Government might be bridging the increasing disparity between the United States dollar and Nigeria’s naira in the ultimate pricing of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), commonly referred to as petrol.
Obanikoro, a former legislator who represented Lagos Central Senatorial District from 2003 to 2007, appeared as a guest on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily program on Wednesday.
As per the All Progressives Congress (APC) stalwart, the Federal Government should be transparent and clarify whether subsidy has been reinstated or not.
President Bola Tinubu, in his inaugural address on May 29, 2023, declared an end to the era of petrol subsidy, leading to a significant increase in the price of the essential commodity, which rose from around N184 to over N600, varying by region.
The new administration also unified the foreign exchange rate, resulting in the naira plummeting to a historic low, from about $1/N700 last May to over $1/N1500 presently.
Numerous stakeholders in the downstream sector, particularly those engaged in the marketing and distribution of petroleum products, expressed concern over the fluctuating value of the naira against the dollar, which significantly impacts the pump price of the product. Some of them resorted to strikes and threatened to raise the price of the commodity.
Recently, both the World Bank and Robert Dickerman, the Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Pinnacle Oil and Gas Limited, asserted that the Federal Government is still subsidizing the product.
This week, human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, challenged the Federal Government to “without any further delay, confirm or deny the serious allegation and end the opacity surrounding the importation of fuel from foreign countries”.
Asked whether subsidy had returned on petrol or not, Obanikoro said, “You talk about subsidy, Mr Falana knows the price of crude in dollars and if our money, the naira has lost so much value, and crude is dollarised, evidently, there must be a cushion somewhere and to what extent is that cushion being done, I can’t speak to that; it’s somebody who is representing the government that can address that.
“But my common sense tells me that there is a gap and because of the pain in the country, the government cannot allow that lacuna to be left unfilled, hence government may chip in some amount of money to fill in that gap.
“I do believe that that needs to be communicated, no doubt about that. That is why it is important to take the people along step by step “