Following the meeting that held between the Nigeria labour leaders and the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, the federal government has agreed to reduce petrol price by N5 from N168 per litre it is currently being sold to a new price of N162.44 per litre.
This new price will take effect from December 14, 2020.
Speaking after the meeting which began around 9 pm on Monday and ended at about 1:30 am on Tuesday, Dr Chris Ngige said a technical committee has been set up to foster price stability in the industry.
He also said that the committee will appraise the market forces and look into other related things that will enable price stability in the industry. The committees are expected to give a report on their findings and recommendations to the house on January 25, 2020.
He explained, “Our discussion was fruitful and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation which is the major importer and marketers of petroleum products and customers have agreed that there will be a slide down of the pump price of PMS and that the price cut will get us about N5 per litre and that the price cut will take effect from next Monday, a week today”.
The Labour Minister further explained that the reduction in petrol price did not affect the price of crude oil nor an act to suspend deregulation, but rather on areas where NNPC has agreed to cut cost on freight and demurrage as the main importer.
Ngige asserted that the reduction in petrol price was a joint effort of NNPC and labour representatives.
In respect to the electricity tariff, NLC and the government agreed to wait till January 25, 2020, which is the next meeting date when the special committee will revisit their complaints.