Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo said Saturday that he has ordered a freeze in the hike of fuel prices until the end of 2006, after a series of mass rallies hit the Africa's top oil producer.

In the past one month, tens of thousands of workers took to the streets across Nigeria, also Africa's most populous country with some 130 million people, in support of trade unions' call to protest against a recent 30 percent fuel price hike.

The unions are expected to meet on October 3 to decide whether to call a general strike which they warned will undoubtedly disrupt the country's oil exports, to force Obasanjo to revert to the old fuel price of 50 naira (38 US cents) per liter.

Against this backdrop, Obasanjo in Saturday's nationwide broadcast to mark Nigeria's 45th independence anniversary said he had directed state agencies to "maintain and sustain current pump price level until the end of 2006 no matter what happens in the international oil market."

"What is important at this point in time is to ensure that continued rising prices in the international market of crude oil does not continue to translate to further price increases of products at the pump," he said.

Nigerian unions had called six general strikes against fuel price hikes before but the government still successfully increased the price from 26 naira (20 cents) per liter in 2002 to the current level of 65 naira (49 cents).

Obasanjo said that price increases are inevitable in view of austerity measures and deregulation policy introduced two years ago that means long-standing government fuel subsidies will be abolished gradually.

"It is true that the reform process has precipitated pains in some constituencies. No one ever said that reform for the better was going to be pain-free," he said.

The president stressed his government will continue to adhere to the liberal economic reforms introduced since his 2003 re- election, but admitted "there is sill a substantial level of subsidy in the petroleum products supplied to the domestic market today in spite of the recent price adjustments."

He added that the government will hold talks with the unions to work out measures to cushion the effect of increased fuel price.

Nigeria produces about 2.5 million barrels of crude per day, but is still forced to import more than half its daily demand of 30 million liters of fuel. Its four aged state-owned refineries are currently operating at about 70 percent of their installed capacity.

Source: Xinhua