Mkpoikana Udoma
Port Harcourt — A stakeholder and energy marketing expert, Dr Joseph Obele, has accused NNPCL Ltd of tactically and secretly increasing the pump price of Premium Motor Spirits, PMS through artificial scarcity to avoid the suspicion of so Nigerians.
Obele, who is a former Chairman of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, IPMAN, in Rivers State, said the nationwide fuel scarcity was carefully orchestrated by NNPC Ltd, noting that the landing cost of PMS currently was far higher than the selling rate.
He disclosed that NNPC Ltd being the sole importer of PMS into the country was currently discharging products at private depots, instead of its own depots so the price of PMS can be arbitrarily increased without Nigerians suspecting.
“It is now obvious that the recent nationwide fuel scarcity that led to the hike in fuel price was strategically orchestrated by NNPC to sell PMS to the corresponding cost of Importation.
“The landing cost for imported PMS is far higher than the selling rate at which NNPC was selling to petroleum marketers. The difference is a huge loss called subsidy, which the federal government has abolished, hence NNPCL has devised a way to close the huge gap of losses.
“The last time the federal government approved six companies for the importation of petroleum products was July 2023, which was truncated by the scarcity of foreign exchange.
As we speak, NNPC is the sole importer of PMS to Nigeria. Meanwhile, products owned by NNPC are available in 13 private depots in Lagos, four in Port Harcourt, two in Warri, and one in Calabar. Records available showed that NNPC vessels with million litres of petrol are at seaports and more would arrive the shores of Nigeria anytime soon.”
Obele further said marketers were currently buying NNPCL products above N750 from private depots, whereas NNPCL’s official rate for petroleum marketers is N567.7 on the NNPCL buying portal.
“NNPC decided to use private depots as the selling channel because private depots are at liberty to sell at any rate in a deregulated market without questioning. It will interest you to know that the NNPC buying portal has been shutdown for three months with a message stating; ‘There is currently no available stock for the product you selected’
“Short term stability to the recent price turbulence can only be guaranteed when NNPC is selling to marketers at the official rate.
“NNPC choosing to sell her products to marketers through private depots at outrageous rate is an intentional tactic to recover the cost of importation. Also, the federal government is aware that any official announcement of price increment won’t go down with the citizens as it will spark serious tension, so a strategic increment through the backdoor was the best option to be adopted.
“Nigerians are now buying fuel above N800 and N900 depending on your location in Nigeria. If the NNPC buying portal is open today and Marketers are buying at N567, then the usual N580 to N600 will be the dispensing rate to the general public.
“The recent ongoing fuel shortages and price increment are obstructing business operations in the country. We urge the Federal Government to quickly address the issues as it is bringing more hardship upon the citizens. It has resulted in increased costs for transportation, cost of commodities in the market and logistics.”
