The price of diesel and aviation fuel continues to rise, and the government explains why it will not intervene.

Minister of State for Petroleum Resources Timipre Sylva has indicated that the Federal Government is unable to intervene in the rising prices of diesel and aviation fuel because both are deregulated.

Sylva said this at a press conference in Abuja on Monday.

He went on to say that the foreign currency rate affected the prices of both imported and domestic goods.

“As a result, the government has no authority to regulate prices.” The actual issue is, of course, the foreign exchange. This cannot be imported since people do not have access to foreign exchange. For the time being, NNPC has been the primary importer of this product; however, we are working to democratise importation so that aviation fuel customers can acquire foreign exchange and import this product themselves.

“It’s not a supply problem in the least.” It’s simply a global issue. You are aware that the situation in Ukraine and Russia has worsened the price spike; this is not unique to Nigeria. The high cost of diesel is due to the same reason, and because these aren’t subsidised goods, they’re deregulated goods, it’s not within the government’s scope to intervene in the market,” Sylva explained.

This comes after the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) went on strike, resulting in fuel shortages in various regions of the country.

The organisation claimed that some of its members decided to shut down their operations because they no longer wanted to operate at a loss or in unfriendly environments.