Despite a nationwide rise in the price of Premium Motor Spirit (also known as petrol), the federal government has denied any such increase.
In a statement released by his media aide Horatius Egua on Friday in Abuja, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources Chief Timipre Sylva maintained that President Major General Muhammadu Buhari (ret.) has not approved any rise in petrol prices.
Paraphrasing, “President Muhammadu Buhari has not authorised any increase in the price of PMS or any other petroleum product for that matter,” the statement stated.
There is now no justification for President Muhammadu Buhari to go back on his word and sign off on a price hike for PMS.
Mr President has consistently stated that he empathises with the struggles of the average Nigerian and that he does not wish to inflict unnecessary pain on the voting public.
In addition, the minister emphasised that the government would not authorise a price hike for PMS without first consulting with those who might be affected. The President of Nigeria has not issued an order for a hike in fuel prices to the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority or any other regulatory body.
There should be no rise in the price of PMS at the pump right now.
He said that the events unfolding were the product of individuals who wanted to undermine the President’s accomplishments in the oil and gas industry.
While the government is working hard to restore normality to petroleum supply and distribution in the country, Sylva urged Nigerians to stay calm and law-abiding.
However, the minister’s stance has led to some uncertainty, as oil marketers have already verified the N10 rise in fuel price, citing it as one of the reasons why key marketers are currently distributing the commodity at higher rates.
The PMS price rise was blamed on logistics, according to the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria, although repeated calls to NNPCL spokesperson Garba Deen Muhammad were not returned.
The Movement for the Actualization of a Better Nigeria (MOMAN) released a statement on Friday night expressing sympathy for Nigerians due to the difficulties they are having purchasing gas at filling stations.
Exceptional demand and distribution difficulties are to blame for these delays,” it explained. The primary reason for this is the scarcity and costly (in US dollars) cost of daughter’s vessels, which are used to transport goods from mother ships to depots along the coast.
The next issue is that there aren’t enough trucks to transport goods from distribution centres to petrol stations all throughout the country. Gas prices are under constant stress from rising logistical and currency rate expenses.
Staff (members) and management of MOMAN enterprises have worked tirelessly at depots and filling stations over the last three months to alleviate the burden suffered by consumers over the Christmas and New Year’s seasons.
To ensure that our customers have easy access to gasoline, our members have once again decided to extend depot loading hours and to maintain strategically placed service stations open for extended hours.
MOMAN stated it will make every effort to keep the product’s pump price at the level permitted by regulators, despite rising expenses and increased competition in the near-term business climate.
Full deregulation of the petroleum downstream industry to promote liberalisation of supply and long-term investment in distribution assets is the ultimate answer to these problems. To that end, we strongly recommend that the government take action.
Even as significant shortages of petrol persisted across the country, retailers speculated on Friday that the Federal Government had begun the progressive reduction of subsidies.
According to reports, in an effort to gradually eliminate the fuel subsidy, the government raised the price of gasoline from N165 per litre to N175 per litre a few months ago and again on Thursday.
In spite of the fact that these were the legally mandated prices, retailers seldom sold the item at these costs due to supply constraints.
According to a prominent distributor, most depots have been short of merchandise for the previous three weeks, and the few that have gotten supplies have only received the epileptic stock.
Marketers in Abuja and the northern area must now source their petrol from Lagos since the emergency gasoline storage for the Federal Capital Territory is presently depleted.
For the past three weeks, several depots have been completely out of stock, and the supply to the remaining handful has been erratic at best. The main distributor told our correspondent confidentially that even when supplies do arrive, it will be so little that there would always be a rush.
This suggests that NNPC Limited has not been bringing in enough fuel for quite some time. They are falling short of matching the anticipated demand.
When asked if NNPCL was cutting back on imports because of concerns over smuggling or because of the cost of providing subsidies, a sales representative said, “It is not that they are worried about smuggling. In fact, they haven’t even admitted that smuggling is a problem and that items are leaving the nation.
The problem is that supply has dropped and the large marketers on whom they rely have suggested that they raise prices gradually at the pump, which they have been doing.
“You know that a few months ago the price was raised from N165/litre to N175/litre, and only yesterday (Thursday) the price was hiked from N175/litre to N185/litre, and this may continue for some time, which is a steady approach of phasing off subsidies.”
The marketer also mentioned logistics issues, saying that dealers in Apapa, Lagos, had to pay N100,000 on each tanker to navy troops manning checkpoints before they could pass the bridge at Navy Dockyard Road to load petroleum products from the depots.
Regardless of whether a marketer prefers Conoil, Aiteo, MRS, Oando, or another company, they are obligated to pay this price, the source said. It got to the point that the downstream regulator went to the head of the security agency to protest, but the head of the security agency defended his people and did nothing to stop it.
This is a hidden tax that drives up the price of a gallon of gas. Even if you had the N100,000 I mentioned, it will be difficult to cross the bridge I described.
This is one of the snags that has impacted production. Even when willing to pay N100,000, some merchants spend over a week crossing that bridge. The current official price is N185/litre, but prominent merchants in Lagos are now charging N199/litre and much more.
In addition, Mohammed Shuaibu, secretary of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria in Abuja-Suleja, addressed worries in the downstream oil industry, saying that most depots were empty.
He said that the NNPC used to pump from its jetty to depots, but that the pipes had been wrecked, resulting in a decrease in supplies from the national oil corporation.
When asked how many Lagos depots the NNPC might use to drop off items, he responded, “Before, they pumped from their jetty to Mosimi; however right now, the pipeline through which the product is being pumped has been vandalised.”
In the past, they “pumped” to Lagos’s Ejigbo district, where merchants could easily enter and remove goods. Conoil loads for its own, Unipetrol loads for its own, Total loads for its own, and the flow is fine since private depots come to their boats to take goods and put them in their different tank farms.
“Independent merchants and some of the bigger merchants will choose from Ejigbo, Mosimi, Ore, etc. Most of the pipelines have been vandalised, leaving those areas without water, and that’s without even including the eight non-functioning depots in the North.
The availability of products is a major issue in the North right now,” said Shuaibu. Assuming the Suleja depot has the necessary supplies, the issue in Abuja and the surrounding area may be resolved immediately. Despite its intended role as a reserve to which Abuja and its surrounding areas may turn, the Suleja tank is now empty.
Every country has a backup plan in case of disaster. While the Suleja depot was originally conceived as a solution to Abuja’s supply issues in the event of a disaster, it now has no fuel in its storage tanks.
According to the IPMAN representative, the organisation is now making do with visits to Lagos, Warri, and Port Harcourt.
He advocated for the Nigerian government to come clean and explain the issue to the people.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (Nigeria’s fuel regulator) have been silent in the face of marketers’ worries about the current statewide petrol shortage.
During a live television broadcast in Abuja, Zahra Mustapha, the Deputy National President of IPMAN, stated that the downstream oil industry was in disarray.
He explained, “We are in a very complicated situation because the weight of subsidy that the government is carrying is no more sustainable and the amount that the NNPC is delivering for now, as the sole importer of the petroleum product, has been impacted severely.
And as a result, the quantity we get as distributors at the loading dock has dropped by more than half. There is no indication that more are being brought in; if more are being brought in, we may expect the same amount as previously.
Since last summer’s hotter-than-normal July and August, we’ve only been getting about half as much business as usual. Currently, the amount we are receiving from private depots is not adequate. If they have enough, they wouldn’t be stockpiling it, but judging by the condition of the private stores, it appears that they have run out.
The NLC strongly disagrees with the price increase.
The Nigerian Labour Congress has also voiced its disapproval of the purported nationwide increase in the price of gasoline.
When speaking with one of our reporters in Abuja for an exclusive interview, Emmanuel Ugboaja, Secretary General of the NLC, also stressed the need for operational refineries in the nation.
Speaking up now, Ugboaja replied, “would be like beating a dead horse.” When a government that is about to be replaced decides to raise fuel prices, it causes a lot of humiliation. The country of Nigeria is a major oil producer. Unfortunately, our refineries aren’t operational. Our crude oil is sent abroad for refining and then returned here to be sold to consumers. This ought not to be the case.
