It was gathered that the decision was taken following
reports that some filling stations were dispensing petrol above N300/litre, far
higher than the price approved by the Federal Government.
On Wednesday, The PUNCH exclusively reported that while
filling stations operated by major marketers and the Nigerian National
Petroleum Company Limited were selling petrol between N194 and N200/litre,
other outlets operated by independent marketers dispensed the product between
N250 and N340/litre.
The report stated that this was despite the insistence of
the Federal Government that there was no approval for an increase in the pump
price of petrol, coupled with the government’s demand that PMS should not be
dispensed above the approved rate.
“Government will not approve any increase of PMS (price)
secretly without due consultations with the relevant stakeholders.
“The President has not directed the Nigerian Midstream and
Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority or any agency for that matter to
increase the price of fuel. This is not the time for any increase in the pump
price of PMS,” the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre
Sylva, had stated recently.
Reacting to the high cost of petrol, particularly outside
Abuja and Lagos, on Wednesday, the President, PETROAN, Billy Gillis-Harry, said
the association had deployed a task force to check the menace.
Speaking to our correspondent on the issue, he said, “We
frown at anybody selling so much above the price of what should be adequate. If
they accessed the product at a high rate, then we would not sanction them.
“But if they accessed the product from NNPCL and sell it at
exorbitant rates of N220, N250, we will sanction you. It is getting very
punitive. So our task force now goes around and when we get them we invoke the
powers of the NMDPRA over them.”
The NMDPRA (Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum
Regulatory Authority) is the Federal Government’s agency responsible for
regulating the midstream and downstream oil sectors.
Gilly-Harry added, “By the time they (defaulters) go and
settle all their fines, they will know that it is not worth selling at
exorbitant prices with the intention to profiteer.
“That is what we are doing right now and I think Nigerians
should be appreciative of PETROAN as regards this development.”
He explained that marketers who accessed the product from
NNPCL should not dispense the commodity above N200/litre, but was quick to
state that it was currently tough to get PMS from NNPCL.
“If you bought from NNPCL, you must be duty-bound to sell at
a maximum of N200/litre, because NNPC sells at a maximum of N194/litre. So for
some independent marketers, it is just N6 more, but the truth is that we are
not seeing the product.
“Some of us who paid for products since October, have not
been able to load till now, and the cost around this is increasing every day.
So by the time they load it, you can imagine the cost burden on the marketers,”
he stated.
The oil marketers’ president, however, assured Nigerians
that PETROAN would work hard to curtail the activities of dealers who try to
profiteer by dispensing petrol at exorbitant rates.
Meanwhile, oil marketers have threatened to name and expose
private depot owners refusing to comply with the Federal Government’s directive
to sell products at a regulated price of N172 per litre.
The National Controller Operation, Independent Petroleum
Marketers Association of Nigeria, Mike Osatuyi, who disclosed this to The PUNCH
exclusively, said defaulters would be exposed after the general elections.
According to him, apart from Emadeb who has been selling to
IPMAN members at N172/litre, other depot owners currently sell above
N200/litre.
The Chairman, Satellite Depot, Akin Akinrinade, also
confirmed the price discrepancies to The PUNCH on Tuesday.
He said, “It is only Emadeb that currently sells to us at
N172 per litre. We are going to start naming all of them that refused to sell
to us at the government-regulated price one by one after the elections. IPMAN
members can’t bear the brunt of price differences.”
IPMAN with over 30,000 members currently controls about 80
per cent per cent of petrol distribution across the country.
Nigeria consumes between 60 and 66 million litres of petrol
per day, according to data provided by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company
Limited.
Akinrinade also told The PUNCH that only NNPCL depots at
Satellite and Ejigbo sell to his members at N172/litre.
“Things are moving fine now because there are products. Our
members have continued to load, however, only NNPCL depots at Satellite and
Ejigbo sell to us at N172 per litre. Private depots sell above N200 per litre”,
he added.
The Federal Government task force team earlier in the month
said it had teamed up with private depots to sell petrol to marketers at a
regulated price of N172 per litre. - PUNCH
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