The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) has debunked the alleged plan to increase the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), commonly known as petrol, to N700 per liter in the country’s north and above N600 in the south.
Alhaji Dele Tajudeen, the Chairman of IPMAN Southwest Zone, clarified this matter in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Ibadan on Friday.
The projected price increase is based on the realities of the floated FX market that have resulted in a significant depreciation of the naira against the dollar. The naira has fallen up to N769/$1 in the Investor and Exporter window, fueling the belief that given the removal of fuel subsidy, the next batch of imported PMS will be based on current exchange rates.
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But Tajudeen urged Nigerians to disregard such speculations and advised against participating in panic buying. He said that the current selling price of petrol would not exceed its present rate.
Furthermore, he commended President Bola Tinubu for eliminating the subsidy on petrol, stating that it was a long-overdue decision.
“Even in PIA bill, it has been clearly stated that the subsidy must be removed.
”So, I want to commend him for removing the subsidy and I want to say that we are in support totally. This is because the subsidy was a scam,” he said.
According to him, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) retail outlet has a market advantage that will sustain the current market prices. He said the masses should relax because the fuel prices will not rise up to N700 per liter.
“I want to disabuse the mind of the people that they should not panic about it, there is no cause for alarm, we are in control and there is nothing like that.
“So, people should be rest assured that there is no way they can buy petrol more than the price it is being sold now.
“If we look at the price from NNPC retail limited, which is an integral part of NNPC limited, they have more advantages than independent marketers and major marketers.
”So, it was the retail price that they announced they had never given a specific price to the independent marketers.
“However, I have read what somebody put into the paper, it is just speculation it is not a reality. Nothing like that I want to assure the masses.
“There is no how the price can go to N700 as we speak, because even if the FX is N700 or N800 that has not nothing to take the price of petroleum from N500 to N700,” Tajudeen said.
A coalition of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) has vowed to resist further increment in pump prices, which upon the removal of fuel subsidy last month, jumped from N185 to as high as N557 per liter. The increment has been described as adding more nails to the coffin of suffering Nigerians.
Tajudeen said the deregulation has resulted in different pump prices, which is now determined by the cost of transportation of the products to different locations.
”If you are moving products within Lagos the price may not be more than N300,000 but if you are moving up to Ibadan or there about it could be as much as N500,000.
”And if you are going to Ilorin, it could be as high as N700,000 that would account for differential in prices.
“I want to say with all sense of authority that as of today within Lagos metropolis nobody should sell more than N515 to N520 per liter.
”Though NNPC has given us the price but the reality of it is that what we buy from the market; because NNPC limited is not the only source for our product, we get from private depots.
“So, whatever we buy is what we put our own margin and sell.
”But as of today, the highest you can get anywhere should be around N550; Lagos N510 per liter; Ogun State between N500 and N520,” Tajudeen said.