Oil marketers on Wednesday agreed with the Federal Government to allow the pump price of petrol to remain at N145 per litre, reversing their previous stance on the pricing of the commodity.
On Tuesday, the Chairman, Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association, Dapo Abiodun, had stated that the marketers could no longer import petrol at a controlled price of N145 per litre.
It was gathered in Abuja on Wednesday that the marketers reversed their stance at the meeting of the ad hoc committee set up by the Presidency to get the oil marketers to restart the importation of refined petroleum products.
Sources at the meeting revealed that a communique on the resolutions reached at the meeting would be made public soon, but noted that the marketers also appealed to the Federal Government to grant them tax holidays and other incentives that would help cut their costs when they resumed fuel importation.
It was learnt that four sub-committees were constituted at the meeting, which was chaired by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu, at the ministry’s headquarters in Abuja.
“Four sub-committees were inaugurated by the minister and we agreed on a price that is good for Nigerians, which of course, is the current price. All these and more will be in the communique that will be released soon”
Another source stated that the committees included those on logistics and business conduct, adding that the agreements reached at the meeting would be relayed to the Presidency before the communique would be made public.
It was also learnt that heads of some parastatals under the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources were members of some of the committees.