Residents of Ogun and Kano states have cried out as petrol price surged to N620 and N617 per litre respectively on Tuesday.
In Kano, some filling stations were locked while long queues of vehicles were seen at few outlets the sold the product.
In Ogun, commercial and vehicular activities in Abeokuta were disrupted following the hike pump price of the fuel from N500 to between N580 and N617 per litre.
The sudden increase forced the inter-state fare to go up astronomically while intra-state transporters also charged more.
Long queues were noticed at some filling stations that had the product and were willing to sell to motorists.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd attributed the price increase to the market forces.
The group chief executive officer of NNPCL, Mr Mele Kyari, stated this in an interview with newsmen after he held a private meeting with the vice president, Mr Kashim Shettima, at the Presidential Villa.
Kyari explained that the increase in the price of petrol had nothing to do with supply issue, saying there was adequate supply of the product.
”I don’t have the details this moment. You know we have the marketing wing of the company; they adjust prices depending on the market realities.
”And this is the meaning of making sure that the market regulate itself so that prices will go up and sometimes they will come down also and this is really what we are seeing in reality this is how the market works.
“There is no supply issue completely when you go to the market you buy the product you come to the market and sale it at prevailing market price there is nothing to do with supply we don’t have supply issues.
“We have over 32 days’ supply in the country; that’s not a problem. What I know is that the market forces will regulate the market, prices will go down sometimes and sometime it will go up but there will be stability of supply.
He assured Nigerians that the policy was the best way for the country going forward.
“And I am also assuring Nigerians that this is the best way to go forward so that we can adjust prices when market comes.
“I know that a number of companies have imported petroleum premium motor spirit so many of them are online. Market forces have started to play, people have confidence in the market and private sector people are now importing product.
“And there is no way they can recover their cost if they cannot take market reflective cost,” Kyari said.
Also speaking, the chief executive officer, Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Mr Farouk Ahmed, said the authority does not set price of the product but it was market determine itself.
“As a regulator you know I told you back in May we are not going to be setting price the market will determine itself and as you saw back in early June when prices came out it was based on the cost of importation plus other logistics of distribution and of course the profit margin by the importer.
“This market is deregulated, is open to all participants. As a mentioned also yesterday (Monday) when I was in Lagos we have about 56 marketing companies that have applied for and obtained license to import.
“Out of those, 10 of them have indicated to supply within the third quarter which is July, August and September. And out of those already we received some cargoes from some of these marketers,” he said.
