Festus Osifo, the National President of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), asserted that the federal government continued to provide subsidies for petroleum products.
This was said by Osifo, who is also the TUC’s president, on Friday during a segment of Politics Today on Channels TV.
According to him, the government still provides a subsidy for the good notwithstanding the price of crude oil on the global market and the exchange rate between the dollar and the naira.
Osifo stated:
“They [government] are paying subsidy today. In reality today, there is subsidy because as of when the earlier price was determined, the price of crude in the international market was somewhere around $80 for a barrel.
“But today, it has moved to about $93/94 per barrel for Brent crude. So, because it has moved, then the price [of petroleum] also needed to move.
“The only reason the price will not move is when you are able to manage your exchange rate effectively and you are able to pump in supply and bring down the exchange rate.
“So, if the exchange rate comes down today, we will not be paying subsidy. But with the exchange rate value and the price of crude oil in the international market, we have introduced subsidy.”
cc: Vanguard Ng
