Regulators of the Nigerian petroleum sector appear to have jettisoned their plan to increase the price of petrol as contained in a new price template earlier announced on Friday by the Petroleum Products Pricing Marketing Company.
The PPPRA had announced a new price template on its website, which put the retail price for the product at between N209.61 and N212.61.
Ex-depot price of petrol (the price marketers buy products from depot owners, which usually determines the pump price) stands at N151.56 per litre, while landing cost is N189.61.
This was directly contrary to an assurance by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation in a statement on February 28, signed by Kennie Obateru, that there would be no petrol price increase in March and that in fact the corporation had over 40 days of petrol stock.
The agency has since retracted the template from its website, while the NNPC has reiterated its earlier statement that there would no price increase in March, in order not to jeopardise ongoing engagements with organised labour and other stakeholders on an acceptable framework that will not expose the ordinary Nigerian to any hardship.
The Federal Government through the Minister of State for Petroleum, Chief Timipre Sylva, had earlier said that it would not intervene in the increase in the price of the petrol, as government no longer fixes prices of petroleum products.
While briefing journalists on the increase in the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), the minister, had said: “Government is no longer in the business of fixing prices for petroleum products, we have stepped back.
“Our focus now is on protecting the interest of the consumers and making sure that marketers are not profiteering.”
Sylva stressed that the deregulation of the sector is necessary for the growth of the economy and that it was unfortunate that people were blaming the government, since such strong policy direction (deregulation) was a consensus among stakeholders.
Sylva said government cannot fund subsidy and would therefore not adopt that as an option.
He urged Nigerians to stop politicising the deregulation of the sector and also not listen to any advocacy for subsidy payment.
The NNPC also tweeted on Friday: “#NNPC insists No Increase In Ex-Depot Price of PMS in March.”
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