(Ecofin Agency) - Subsequent to the Federal Government’s announcement on Tuesday December 29, 2015, that the price of petrol will be N86 per litre from January 1, 2015, the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) and the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas employees (NUPENG) have raised criticism concerning the move.

Indeed these two leading unions in Nigeria, have expressed different views concerning the reduction.

According to the National Public Relations Officer of PENGASSAN, Emmanuel Ojugbana, the Government needs to provide further explanation on the the supposed price reduction and its workings. “We don’t understand what that means, i.e. the reduction of fuel price from N87 to N86 and N86.5 per litre. Is it that subsidy has been removed or that the price was reduced because of the fall in the price of crude oil in the international market? Will the reduction stop the sale of petrol at over N120 per litre in some places in this country? So, we have told the government that all stakeholders need to be engaged for us to have proper understanding of what the direction of the oil and gas industry actually is. For this association, we have yet to understand clearly the government’s direction on this fuel price issue”, the PRO told Punch News.

Meanwhile, NUPENG’s South-West Chairman, Tokunbo Korodo described the move as encouraging but doubted if it can be sustained.

The Federal Government through the Petroleum Product Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA),  had announced that from January 1, 2016, all fuel stations owned by the National Nigerian Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) will start selling petrol at N86 per litre, while independently owned stations is to sell at N86.5 per litre.