The Federal Government cannot intervene in the rising price of diesel and aviation fuel as the prices for both products are deregulated, according to the Minister of State Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva.

Sylva stated this while speaking in Abuja yesterday.

He explained that the prices of both products, which are imported, are being impacted by foreign exchange rate.

“So, it is not within the purview of the government to fix the prices at all. And of course, the actual issue is also the foreign exchange. People cannot access foreign exchange to import this. For the time being, NNPC has been the main importer of this product but what we are trying to do is to democratise the importation so that the aviation fuel users themselves should be able to access foreign exchange and be able to import this product.

“It’s not a supply issue at all. It’s just a global problem. You know that the problem in Ukraine and Russia has actually exacerbated the rise in prices; it is not in Nigeria alone. The high cost of diesel is also because of the same reason and these are not subsidised commodities, they are deregulated commodities so actually, it is not within the purview of the government to intervene in the price,” Sylva said.