Former Minister of Petro\u00adleum and Energy, Prof. Tam David-West, has
\nblasted the Federal Government for in\u00adcreasing the price of Premium Motor
\nSpirit (PMS) from N86.50kobo per litre to N145, saying it is
\nunjustifiable. It is nonsense.<\/p>\n
In an interview in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital on Friday, he insisted
\nthat petrol can be sold at N40 per litre in Nigeria.<\/p>\n
David-West, who was widely quoted in the media that petrol could be sold
\nfor N40 per litre under President Mu\u00adhammadu Buhari prior to the 2015
\ngeneral elections, raised the alarm that hidden charges made the pump
\nprice of petrol to skyrocket, urging the gov\u00adernment to assume
\nresponsibil\u00adity for the charges.<\/p>\n
He identified Petroleum Equalisation Fund (PEF), de\u00admurrage, charges by
\nNigerian Ports Authority (NPA), jetty and depot charges, retailer\u2019s margin
\non petroleum, trans\u00adporter\u2019s margin on petroleum, dealer\u2019s margin on
\npetroleum, smuggling across borders, stor\u00adage and so on as some of the
\nadditional charges put on the price of PMS.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I heard the Minister of State for Petroleum (Ibe Ka\u00adchikwu), saying
\nthey smuggled our petrol across borders and that was the reason for the
\nin\u00adcrease, it is nonsense. I used the word nonsense because during my
\ntime, we closed the bor\u00adders. If I could do it, he could do it too; and it
\nis the same head of state (Buhari).<\/p>\n
\u201cWe ensured there was no petrol station several kilome\u00adtres to the
\nborders. Govern\u00adment would not approve fuel station that is close to the
\nbor\u00adders. Another illogicality of that argument is if you sell petrol in
\nNigeria for N150 per litre, the people across the borders are ready to pay
\nN160; if you sell for N200, they are ready to pay N210. So, there will
\nstill be smuggling. So, increasing petrol price in Nigeria does not stop
\nsmuggling,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
David-West, said the rea\u00adsons which the government gave for \u201cthe fuel
\nprice increase is confusing. A government of\u00adficial said it is subsidy
\nremoval, which is not. Another one says smuggling, which is unten\u00adable.
\nForeign exchange (Forex) was also mentioned, which is partially tenable
\nbecause the country\u2019s foreign exchange has gone down drastically. So, it
\nis so difficult now to source forex to import fuel.
\n\u201cIf I am into managing of oil and foreign exchange goes down, why should a
\nman on the street pay for it? No matter the reason, N145 per litre is not
\njustified. If they removed all the unnecessary additions on the price of
\npetroleum such as bridging or Petroleum Equali\u00adsation Fund, dealer\u2019s
\nmargin, transporter\u2019s margin, retailer\u2019s margin, storage, depot margin,
\nand NPA charges, petrol price will come down to N40 per litre.\u201d<\/p>\n
David-West stated further that the National Chairman of All Progressives
\nCongress (APC), Chief John Odigie- Oyegun and Minister of State for
\nPetroleum, Dr. Ibe Kachik\u00adwu, said the hike in fuel price was necessitated
\nby subsidy removal, but the Vice Presi\u00addent, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, said it
\nwas because of foreign exchange.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat they are doing is em\u00adbarrassing to him. Buhari has said it
\nrepeatedly that there is no subsidy. I stand by him that there is no
\nsubsidy as such. If you say you have come to remove subsidy, will you
\nre\u00admove what does not exist?<\/p>\n
\u201cKachikwu, I don\u2019t know him and I have never met him before; he is
\nbrilliant from his CV (Curriculum Vitae). I re\u00adspect him for his CV. He
\nhas got a very beautiful CV. But sometimes, he says things that are, to
\nme, outrageous.<\/p>\n
\u201cA business man runs a business to make profit. Gov\u00adernment should
\nencourage businessmen to be in business by allowing them not to run at a
\nloss. Government also has a responsibility to make sure that businessmen
\ndo not ex\u00adploit the people.<\/p>\n
\u201cRight now, we are inter\u00adested more in businessmen making profit while
\nthey (gov\u00adernment) turned their back to common man being exploited or
\nsuffering.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Former Minister of Petro\u00adleum and Energy, Prof. Tam David-West, has blasted the Federal Government for in\u00adcreasing the price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) from N86.50kobo per litre to N145, saying…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":49453,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-49452","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n