.Reverse the increase now, Nigerians getting poorer, NLC tells Tinubu
.Insists previous increases didn’t produce any good result
.As price hits N1000 per litre in Lagos
.Sowore blasts FG, calls on Nigerians to fight back now
.PMS has finally been deregulated, subsidy eliminated- Marketers
.Ask govt to invest heavily in mass transportation, especially with CNG buses
CHIGOZIE AMADI
Angered by the recent increased in price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS ) The Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC has asked the Federal Government to reverse the new hike in the pump price of petrol it announced on Wednesday.
Its President, Comrade Joe Ajaero, who conveyed this in a statement on Wednesday, lamented that previous increases in the product did not produce any good result,as Nigerians only got poorer.
According to him,the current hike will further deepen poverty as production capacities dip,more jobs will be lost with multidimensional negative effects.
He told the government to be bold enough to tell Nigerians in advance the destination it wants to take the country with torrents of increases in the pump price of the product.
He added:”We are dismayed by the latest increase in the pump price of petrol. It looks like the only thing this government is known for is increase in the pump price of petrol without commensurate capacity of Nigerians or mitigatory measures.
“Even following the logic of market forces , we find it an aberration that a private company (NNPCL) is the one fixing prices and projecting itself as a hegemonic monopoly.
“We challenge the government to go to the drawing board and present us with a blueprint for an inclusive economic growth and national development instead of this spasmodic ad hocism and palliative policy.
“It needs no stating the fact that the latest wave of increase has grossly altered the calculations of Nigerians once again at a time they were reluctantly coming to terms with their new realities”.
Daily Champion had reported that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has increased the price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) also known as petrol, product, from N855 per litre to N998 per litre in Lagos and over N1,000 per litre in Abuja.
The increase in the price of petrol, which came on Wednesday, was noticed at the pumps at all NNPCL depots in Lagos State.
The new development is a 12.7 percent or N113 increase from the initial price.
Findings by Daily Champion disclosed that Mobil filling station at Agidingbi area of Ikeja sold fuel at N1,000 per litre around 7am to 8am instead of the initial price of N850.
The source who also bought it very early said, “Very early in the morning we bought it at N1,000 because we already had the hint that the price will increase but few hours later they stopped selling it.”
As at the time of filing this report which was around 5:29pm, the Mobil filling station at Odo-Eran, Ogba was selling at N996.
Our correspondent observed that at the station there were queues which obstructed free flow of traffic.
But a commercial driver at Alausa in Ikeja said, “I went to NNPC in Agege and bought at N989 per litre, I used keg to buy it.”
The national oil company had on September 3, 2024 raised the price of petrol from N568, which was the lowest in Lagos, and N617 in some other parts of the country, to a minimum of N855, obtainable in Lagos.
However, Mr Adetunji Oyebanji, former Chairman of, Major Energies Marketers Association of Nigeria (MEMAN) noted that PMS has bee n finally deregulated.
According to him ‘’I believe the price of PMS has finally been deregulated, and subsidy has finally been eliminated. Henceforth, the price of PMS will be determined by market dynamics.
He noted that this is inevitable as the government could no longer bear the burden of the subsidy. ‘’it is a good measure the government has taken to mitigate the development is the sale of crude oil to local refineries in Naira at a fixed exchange rate.
‘’This will protect consumers from the negative impact of the fluctuations in exchange rates. The fact that the crude will be refined in local refineries will also save the cost of transporting crude to offshore refineries and transporting refined products back to Nigeria. Without these two factors, prices would have been higher.
‘’Another thing will be that the incentive to smuggle petrol from Nigeria to our neighbouring countries will be greatly reduced. Henceforth, prices can change at any time, depending on market dynamics. Customers will make informed choices about where to buy from. Operators will need to improve on safety, customer service, and accurate measurement to retain customers. This is also the time for consumers to consider alternative sources of powering their vehicles like CNG. The era of full competition has come to Nigeria. With time, things will settle down, and people will make informed choices. The government should invest in mass transportation, especially with CNG buses. Greater incentives should be given in terms of duty waivers on conversion kits and other CNG equipment and vehicles.
Similarly , another Petroleum marketers have said the federal government has completely removed the subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit (petrol), which is the reason the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited increased the pump price of fuel to N1,030 and N998 per litre in Abuja and Lagos State.
The spokesperson of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Chinedu Ukadike, disclosed this to Daily Post on Wednesday.
Ukadike was reacting to the latest fuel price hike across NNPC outlets.
NNPCL retail outlets on Wednesday adjusted their fuel pump price from N897 per liter to N1,030.
This comes weeks after NNPCL increased its fuel pump price to N897 per litre from N617.
Reacting, Ukadike said, “It is a price template that shows that the total deregulation of the oil and gas sector and the implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act have taken off.
“With this, I don’t think there is anything like a subsidy on petroleum products now. NNPCL is now selling as they are buying from Dangote Refinery.
“NNPCL is no longer a middleman for oil marketers. Marketers are to buy petrol products from Dangote Refinery. It has become a willing buyer, selling relationship. We are embracing the new NNPCL price template.”
He, however, added that NNPCL and Dangote Refinery are yet to release their petrol ex-depot prices, which will determine whether marketers will sell the product.
“Although they have not released their ex-depot prices, we are waiting for NNPCL’s ex-depot prices. Once the ex-depot prices of NNPCL and that of Dangote Refinery are released, we will now choose where to buy our petroleum products and stock our filling stations,” he stated.
This comes as a report indicated that Dangote Refinery had increased its petrol price to N977 per liter from N898, according to industrial sources familiar with the development.
However, Dangote Refinery has not released a statement on its petrol price as of filing this report.
Recall that NNPCL had earlier revealed that it bought Dangote petrol at N898 per liter.
However, a spokesperson for Dangote Group, Anthony Chiejina, disagreed with NNPCL, but the company did not reveal its petrol price.
