The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva declared on Monday that he would be okay as a private citizen to buy a litre of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), popularly called petrol, at N300 per litre.
made the comment While presenting President Muhammadu Buhari’s scorecard in the petroleum sector under the media series organised by the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture, Sylva, a former governor of oil-rich Bayelsa State, argued that the cost of petrol in Nigeria is still low compared to other countries’.
The product is already selling in parts of Nigeria at prices ranging from N179 to over N400 per litre.
Sylva had been asked whether he would be comfortable buying petrol at N300 per litre after leaving office in a few months. He said: “If you ask me how I will feel as a private citizen to buy petroleum products at N300 per litre; frankly, if you as me, I will say I won’t feel bad knowing the actual situation.
“And if you compare Nigeria to other countries and you would also understand and you also convert N300 that you are talking about to other currencies, then, you would probably understand.
“You know a lot of you travel to the United Kingdom, a lot of you travel to the United States. How much do you buy petroleum products? Even in Saudi Arabia and in Arab communities that produce crude oil. Convert it to what we are buying in Nigeria in terms of Naira, you will find out that we are not really doing too badly.
“But unfortunately, we are still in a subsidised regime which all of us know and we have come to a national consensus now that this subsidy is not sustainable. But we will get there. Together, we will get there”.
BAMGBELU ADENIYI AKINYEMI
10 January 2023 at 4:11 pm
Yes, it not bad buying fuel for N300/litre. But is good paying N30,000:00 as minimum wage. Some of this political leaders should be at the asylum.