FG must stop fixing price of fuel, if it wants stability – former NACCIMA president    

Federal Government has been called upon to hands off all issues relating to fuel pricing in the country, if it is serious about attaining stability in the supply of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS – petrol).

Herbert Ajayi, former president, Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines, and Agriculture (NACCIMA), said the economy required absolute stability in fuel supply for it to grow.

Speaking with BusinessDay on the sideline of the recently concluded annual conference of the NACCIMA, in Dutse, capital of Jigawa State, Ajayi said government cannot continue to fix price of fuel, while working towards de-regulating the sector.

According to Ajayi, it is imperative that government fully hands off the fixing of price of PMS, and by doing this the nation will start to have a realistic price for the commodity, which is very necessary for the economy.

“Want I am saying is that if government want to privatise the downstream sector of the oil sector, let them do it. The current trend in which government still want to have some control over cost of the commodity is not good enough.

“You can have control over a commodity you do not produce, it is wrong to want to control the pricing. I will suggest that government completely hands off all issues related to the sector,” he said.

He also called on the Federal Government to liberalise the current exchange rate by merging the official rate with what was obtained at the alternative market.

“All these need to be looked into so that the nation’s economy will move forward. As it is now, things are a bit difficulty for everybody, but we all need to support government to get over the difficulty.

“So far, we have come to accept that the steps that government is taking to address the challenges facing the economy are very necessary, which require the support of all citizens.

“As we know, the policies of government are going to affect citizens in different ways. Government needs to put in place measures that will help the people that the policies are going to affect the most,” he said.