Petroleum product marketers and retailers on Monday explained why the Federal Government’s proposed N1,350-per-litre petrol price discount had yet to reflect at Nigerian filling stations.
The Minister of Finance, Taiwo Oyedele, last Thursday announced a 30-day fuel discount, setting the price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), also known as petrol, at N1,350 per litre at NNPCL filling stations.
Days after the announcement, some NNPCL filling stations in Abuja raised their pump prices to N1,405 per litre from N1,370.
However, a latest market survey on Monday showed that NNPCL retail outlets in Wuse Zones 4 and 6 had reduced their petrol prices to N1,370 per litre.
This means that, as of the time of reporting, no NNPCL outlet surveyed was dispensing petrol at the proposed price of N1,350 per litre.
The situation has left Nigerians and motorists confused rather than elieved.
This comes as some other filling stations in Abuja raised their petrol prices by between N10 and N39 per litre at the weekend.
The upward price adjustments were implemented by MRS, AA Rano, Ranoil and other filling stations in the nation’s capital and its environs, leaving petrol prices between N1,370 and N1,410 per litre.
In an exclusive interview with DAILY POST, the National President of the Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association, Billy Gillis-Harry, blamed the volatility in domestic fuel prices on speculation following the Federal Government’s announcement of the proposed N1,350-per-litre discount.
He emphasised that unless the government’s intervention was extended evenly across the downstream petroleum sector, fuel price volatility would persist to the detriment of Nigerians.
According to him, the planned fuel discount at NNPCL filling stations would not automatically eliminate petrol price volatility.
He urged motorists and Nigerians not to panic, assuring them that fuel prices would eventually stabilise.
“It is due to speculation. Right now, we have just one dominant refinery and some imports. So that is possible.
“If demand is too high, it can affect price. There’s nothing to panic about. Eventually, the price will be stable,” he said.
Similarly, the National President of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Abubakar Maigandi, had earlier urged Nigerians to avoid panic buying, assuring them that his members had sufficient stocks supplied by Dangote Refinery.
He reiterated his call for the Federal Government to extend the proposed fuel discount to IPMAN members rather than limiting it to NNPCL filling stations.
