‘It’s not up to FG, NNPCL to cap pump price of petrol’ – Marketers
Amid claims by the Presidency and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) that there will not be any further increases in the pump price of petroleum products in the country, the products’ marketers have insisted that it is not the call of the Federal Government to make.
This is also the marketers advised President Bola Tinubu to reverse or relax his May 29, 2023 declaration of total subsidy removal on imported petroleum products.
According to marketers, the present price increase in the sale of rhe commodity is as a result of the inability of importers to access the United States Dollars and the impact this was having on businesses, across the country.
The marketers insist that as long as the Dollar remains high and inaccessible, the consequence will be a continued hike in the pump price of the petrol in the country.
Reacting to the Presidency’s claims of stopping further increases in the price of petrol at the dispensing stations, Secretary, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Abuja-Suleja, Mohammed Shuaibu, said the Nigerian government should learn from Kenya where a reversal has been announced after realizing the economic hardship it was inflicting on the masses.
“Let them not do the needful, they will see the consequences. We learned this morning that Kenya, which equally removed subsidy and noticed that its effect was so hard on the citizens, has again resumed the subsidy regime for the period of two months.
“Government is about the people and it must have a listening ear. For Nigeria, how can we be an oil producing nation with four refineries and all of them are down. We now depend on imports.
“When he (Tinubu) announced that thing (subsidy removal), we said it was going to bring problems. Are we not feeling the consequences of that announcement now? It is forex that largely determines the cost of petroleum products here.
“Marketers are not willing to import products again. So if the government is going to relax the removal of subsidy for a while, it should better do that as a matter of urgency,” said Shuaibu.
The IPMAN secretary further argued that despite the fact that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) announced earlier on Tuesday that it had no intention of increasing petrol price, the cost of the commodity would rise above its current N617/litre in weeks, if the exchange rate continues to increase.
“Relaxing subsidy removal is going to be a very wise decision right now, because going by the price of the dollar, the cost of petrol is bound to rise. In fact, some oil marketers are ready to join the labour union to protest,” he added.
However, some dealers have advised that subsidy on petrol must gradually set in, should the NNPCL continue to sell at N617/litre, particularly if the rise in forex rate persists.
National Public Relations Officer, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Chief Chinedu Ukadike, said the outright removal of subsidy would cause severe hardship.
“I’ve been saying this even before subsidy on petrol was removed. How can you stop subsidy without anything on ground as palliatives?
“Trips that used to be N5,000 in the past and now over N15,000. Businesses are shutting down. The suffering is rising. The government has to intervene now,” he stated.
The IPMAN spokespersn had earlier explained that the price of imported commodities, including petrol, would continue to rise as far as the rate of exchange of the dollar increases.
