The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) has denied reports that it planned to up the price of petrol to N1, 200 per litre.
The denial came in the wake of a report that the company had on Tuesday clashed with petroleum marketers under the aegis of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) over the removal of subsidy on petrol.
According to the report, petrol will now cost N1, 200 per litre due to the cessation of under-recovery of fuel costs.
The national oil company said in a statement by its spokesman, Mr Olufemi Soneye that it never clashed with the petroleum marketers over the removal of petrol subsidy and urged Nigerians to disregard to disregard the news, describing it as “unfounded rumours.”
It assured Nigerian that there were no plans for an upward review of the petrol price.
“NNPC Ltd emphasises it has not clashed with any party. The publication sought confirmation on alleged subsidy reduction, to which NNPC responded that subsidy has been entirely removed.
“The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) assures the public that there is no imminent increase in the cost of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), commonly known as petrol.
“Motorists nationwide are advised against engaging in panic buying, as there is presently ample availability of PMS across the country,” Soneye said.
“The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) assures the public that there is no imminent increase in the cost of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), commonly known as petrol.
“NNPC urges Nigerians to disregard unfounded rumours and assures them that there are no plans for an upward review of the PMS price,” Soneye said.
Similarly, the national chairman of IPMAN, Mr Abubakar Maigandi, said in an interview on Arise Tv that there was no such signal to raise prices from the NNPC, which is currently the sole importer of the product.
He added that he was also not aware that any subsidy was being paid on the product, insisting that if the sole importer says it’s not paying any subsidy, then it should be believed.
“The NNPC is the sole importer of these petroleum products and when they say there’s no subsidy then there’s no subsidy because they are the only ones importing.
“The rumour about increment is not true because we have not heard anything from the NNPC about increments. We advise all our marketers to go to the various depots to see that they load products. There’s no such plan to increase price,” Maigandi declared.
He stated that only the NNPC can tell the price of the product, stressing that although the situation whereby the NNPC is the sole importer is not ideal, it is what obtains for now.
“Presently there is no increment and we didn’t receive any communication from the NNPC that there is an increment. So we are still selling the same way we were buying before.
“That is the reason we have told all our marketers that they should start selling their products in their various stations according to the way they have been selling. So if there is any information, definitely I know it will come from the NNPC,” he added.
Maigandi also said when the Port Harcourt and Dangote refineries come on stream there will likely be a marginal reduction in pump prices.
