The federal government has blamed oil traders for the recent spike in gasoline pump prices.
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, said that the government was still paying subsidies for gasoline imported into the country.
“I can tell you with authority, we have not deregulated. The government continues to subsidize gasoline prices. If there are price increases, it is not from the government,” he told Periodistas on Monday at a stakeholder consultation forum on regulations organized by the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority(NMDPRA) in Abuja.
He said that the price increases implemented in the last two weeks were “probably from the sellers”.
“I will speak with the Authority to make sure that they really regulate the price. This is not from the government, we have not deregulated,” said Sylva.
Fuel shortages have continued in Abuja despite assurances from the government that the problem would be resolved.
Marketers had listed the high cost of buying gasoline at depots and the high cost of diesel to truck them in as the main factors responsible for the shortage.
The Independent Petroleum Traders Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) said its members were unable to sell at the government-regulated price due to rising costs.
In July, Abuja marketers raised the pump price for petrol with several stations selling the product above N165 per litre.
Some service stations in the city center sell gasoline at N180. Sylva did not say why the government has not enforced its price.
He said fuel queues in Abuja were gradually disappearing, the same claim the government has made for months with no permanent solution.
“The queues in Abuja are going away, but I don’t know if you’re seeing more queues, but a lot is being done,” he said.
“I noticed that the queues are already disappearing. There are some issues, I think the NMDPRA Authority Executive Director will be in a better position to explain some of the issues.
“But there is a lot going on to ensure that the queues end. Yesterday, I noticed that the queues in Abuja are easing,” she added.