Petrol pump price varies after NNPC increment

Nigerians were stunned when on Tuesday, November 1, it was gathered that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) was increasing the fuel pump price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) otherwise known as petrol, by N4. Although the federal government had fixed the price at N145, the petroleum corporation had sold for about N141, a rate which many other petroleum companies sold after the initial price increase. However, the recent development by the NNPC seems to be in sharp contrast to the recent agreement on fuel pump prices. The spokesperson of the NNPC, Garba Deen Muhammad, explained that there was no rule preventing marketers from selling within the range stipulated.

He stated: “A price regime was introduced between N135 and N145. So, you can sell anywhere within that range. What you are seeing is interplay of market forces.” In his response, Dr Ibe Kachikwu, Nigeria’s minister of state for petroleum resources, however insisted that the federal government did not increase the pump price of the commodity, and after a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari, said: “Have you heard me announce any increment? Wait until you hear from my mouth?” Following this varying prices and information by NNPC and the petroleum minister, NAIJ.com decided to take a sample of the amount petrol stations now sell, whether they have changed from the initial price made public, or if they have increased the price. A visit to Omolad Oil showed that even without as many customers as possible, a litre of petrol still sells for N142, as the fuel attendants complained of dearth of customers. “Fewer people come to buy fuel these days. The sales have dropped, but this is what we do on a daily basis, where do we go?” an anonymous attendant stated. At the Poosab filling station along Aboru road, a litre of fuel was sold for as low as N140, and just like the Omolad Oil station, there were few customers patronising them. Ironically, at the MOJ station also along Iyana Ipaja road, more customers were seen at the pumps where fuel was sold for N143. At the FATGBEMS filling station on Lagos Ibadan expressway, a litre of fuel was sold for N141 with fewer customers also, but Matrix (selling at N140/litre) did not suffer similar fate as people kept patronising them. The most surprising discovery yet from the findings was that the filling stations where the fuel pump prices were the highest had more customers than others. At the NNPC gas stations around the state capital and neighbouring states, a litre sells for N145, with many more customers trooping in en masse. “We trust these places and the quality of their products that is why we come here not minding the prices that we get them for. “Although nobody is happy buying at an exorbitant rate, nobody wants to buy fuel that will damage their vehicles or run their engines down,” one man who was leaving the filling station told NAIJ.com in confidence. The same thing was witnessed at the Conoil filling station opposite Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) in Ikeja, where customers were ready to endure the queue that was occasionally building up, to get the fuel at N145/litre. “Would you rather I bought it at N140 per litre and regret doing that?” one customer queried our correspondent when asked why he preferred buying at an expensive rate. Many Nigerians are hoping that the recent increase said to have been done by the NNPC will be restricted to their filling stations while the deregulation of the downstream sector which allows independent suppliers import and sell at rates which they deem fit will continue to favour the masses.