Observers ask: if without subsidy, Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), otherwise known as petrol, sells for N86 per litre, other products, like diesel and kerosene, should ordinarily come cheaper.

For General Secretary of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Dr. Peter Ozo-Eson, a cabal is pulling the wool over the faces of Nigerians.

He asked: “Why is diesel price still up at a time when crude oil price has collapsed? At best, the variance between the landing price of petrol and diesel should not be more than 1.5 per cent. So, if indeed what government is claiming in respect to petrol is correct, it must bring its regulatory presence to bear on the price of diesel.

“Again, if what the government is saying is true, it means that the failure of regulatory presence is allowing the cabal to rip Nigerians off. When one realises that diesel is a major component of manufacturing, the revival and diversification of the economy requires that we handle that matter properly.”

According to Ozo-Eson, “When all these are taken together, what is clear is that what government is doing now is nothing but a gimmick; a gimmick to fool the country into believing that subsidy has been withdrawn. It will not take up to six months before Nigerians would be opened up to the same exploitation that is taking place on diesel. At that time, government would say it had long deregulated.

“Government cannot deregulate and allow a powerful cabal or cartel to rip the citizens off. What that means, in the final analysis is that there is no government. I think government must be careful in the way it webs this policy through. NLC thinks government must be able to plug all the loopholes in the management of subsidy, so that government and the people are not ripped off.”