The House of Representatives has ruled that six million litres of aviation fuel be sold at the rate of N480 per litre to airline operators for the next three months to avert further breakdown of operations in the aviation industry.

This development might see the President Muhammadu Buhari regime spending N1.3 billion on subsidising aviation fuel price (JetA1), seen to have risen from N190 to N700 per litre.

Making the disclosure in a statement issued after a meeting with Airline Operators of Nigeria, NNPC and the Central Bank of Nigeria on Monday, the House asked marketers to apply for licences to import aviation fuel so as to bypass middlemen.

“As part of the resolutions, it was also agreed that as a long-term solution, the airline operators must commence the process of securing a licence for the importation of aviation fuel to avoid suspicion over the landing cost of the product and other associated logistic issues,” Speaker of the House, Femi Gbajabiamila, was quoted to have said.

The House in its resolution also tasked NNPC and the apex bank to provide the needed assistance, and asked airline operators to name marketers of their choice to supply them with aviation fuel over the next three months.

On Monday, airline operators were on the verge of shutting down operations indefinitely due to the hike in aviation fuel price, alleged to have risen from N190 to N700 per litre.

The union had in a letter to the Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, bemoaned the increase in cost of operations reaching over ninety-five per cent.