NNPC rules out fresh petrol price hike as queues resurface
By Emma Ogbuehi
Despite assurances by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited that it has no plan to raise the pump price per litre of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) also known as petrol, fuel queues have resurfaced in many major filling stations in Lagos.
Reports on Monday had claimed that marketers had suggested N720 a litre as the realistic price for the commodity. Consequently, some stations had shut off customers, apparently to hoard the products. Those that opened for business were besieged by motorists on panic buying.
But in a terse statement on Monday night, the company urged Nigerians to disregard speculations of a fresh hike in price of the premium product.
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The assurance came on the heels of the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero, warning the NNPC Limited against fresh petrol price hike. NLC hinted of a nationwide strike if the NNPC Limited goes ahead with the price hike.
NNPC Limited Spokesman, Muhammad Garbadeen, in a statement, said the company has no intention to increase petrol price for the third consecutive time since the removal of petrol subsidy on May 29, 2023.
“Dear esteemed customers, we at NNPC Retail value your patronage, and we do not have the intention to increase our PMS pump prices as widely speculated.
“Please buy the best quality products at the most affordable prices at our NNPC Retail Stations nationwide,” Garbadeen said.
Since President Bola Tinubu announced the removal of petrol subsidy in his inaugural speech on May 29, 2023, the price of the commodity has been on steady increase.
With the announcement, the pump price of a litre of petrol rose from N184 to N500. About two months later, the price jumped from N500 to over N617 on Tuesday, July 18, 2023, eliciting anger and criticisms from economically stranded citizens.
The Group Chief Executive Officer of the NNPC Limited, Mele Kyari, had blamed the second petrol price hike on market forces.
Transportation cost has since galloped, and its attendant economic implications felt on food prices, with the Organised Labour protesting the “anti-people policies” of the Tinubu administration on August 2, 2023.
The unprecedented increase in the price of petrol from N184 per litre to over N600 occurred amid the unification of the foreign exchange rates by the Tinubu administration as well as rising inflation rates.
