Nigerians may face even more hardship as the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) has rejected the new ex-depot price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) set by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).
With control of over 70 percent of the country’s filling stations, IPMAN is threatening to halt operations unless NNPCL reverses its recent ex-depot price hike to N1,010 per liter.
IPMAN spokesperson Chinedu Ukadike criticized NNPCL’s decision, which saw the state-owned company raise prices across its retail outlets to between N998 and N1,030 per liter in Abuja and Lagos, and set the ex-depot price for marketers between N1,010 and N1,040 per liter.
Ukadike condemned the price increase, stating that it reflects NNPCL’s intent to continue punishing Nigerians.
“NNPCL is selling ex-depot in Port Harcourt at N1,045 per liter, Calabar (N1,040), Lagos (N1,010). We refuse the price by NNPCL. We cannot comply with the price. We will not lift NNPCL petrol; we are not interested,” he said.
He added that IPMAN members would not accept a petrol price higher than what NNPCL charges at its own retail outlets, stressing that this situation contradicts any notion of deregulation.
“NNPCL will continue to suffer the masses. They are selling at N998, but selling to us at N1,010. By the time logistics costs are added, petrol prices will reach N1,200 per liter,” Ukadike explained.
This development signals the potential for a looming fuel scarcity nationwide. Many filling stations in Abuja were already not dispensing fuel by Thursday.
Meanwhile, the Nigeria Labour Congress has demanded an immediate reversal of the latest price hike, but the Nigerian government attributed the increase to market forces.
