INTRO: The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva discussed the increment of the price of petrol from N148 to N151 yesterday while addressing newsmen in Abuja.
The reason for the fuel hike according to him is the incapacity of the Federal Government to pay for fuel subsidy, no thanks to the fall of international oil price, and the reduction of oil production quota by OPEC to Nigeria, all due to the Coronavirus pandemic.
The Minister revealed that the deregulation of the downstream sector of the petroleum industry introduced in March, 2020, coupled with the fuel subsidy removal has already yielded the country with 1 trillion Naira savings. Furthermore, the Minister disclosed the proposal to merge the Petroleum Products Pricing and Regulatory Agency (PPRA), with the Petroleum Equalization Fund (PEF) once the Petroleum Industry Bill is passed.
My personal problem with the deregulations and subsidy removals is not their merit but their utility. The intentions of those policies are more often than not defeated with the unbridled looting by the public officials so that in the end, the policies are tantamount to taking from the poor to the rich. Yes, to their life of "aloota continua".
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