From Victor Osula, Abuja
The NNPC had, on Tuesday, increased the pump price of Petrol to N617 in Abuja and environs and Lagos to N546.
According to the Union on Tuesday the new price regime is one too many for Nigerians to bear considering the harsh economic conditions the earlier, recent increase had imposed on them without any welfare package whatsoever.
“Why we applaud the decision to remove the costly subsidy on fuel, we had cautioned against a hasty implementation of the policy without putting mitigating measures in place to cushion the excruciating effects,” said the NUJ in a statement signed by its National Secretary, Shuaibu Usman Lema.
He said further that, ” We are saddened by the fact that most people can no longer commute to work or other business without too much stress because the embarrassing sudden surge in Petro prices has made it so.”
“We believe that this sudden decision is an overkill and urge that the situation should be reversed immediately while adequate measures are considered and put in place to lessen the effects on ordinary Nigerians.”
The NNPC Ltd Group Chief Executive Officer, Mele Kyari, confirmed the increase to State House Correspondents on Tuesday, shortly after a private meeting with the Vice President, Kashim Shettima, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Kyari explained that the increase was in line with market realities. He dismissed reports that the hike was due to a short supply of the product in the country.
He said, “I don’t have the details at this moment. You know we have the marketing wing of the company, they adjust prices depending on the market realities.
“And this is the meaning of making sure that the market regulates itself so that prices will go up and sometimes they will come down also. This is really what we are seeing in reality; this is how the market works.
“There is no supply issue completely. When you go to the market, you buy the product; you come to the market and sell it at the prevailing market price. There is nothing to do with supply; we don’t have supply issues.
“There is robust supply. We have over 32 days of supply in the country; that’s not a problem. What I know is that the market forces will regulate the market. Prices will go down sometimes and sometimes, they will go up but there will be stability of supply, and I am also assuring Nigerians that this is the best way to go forward so that we can adjust prices when the market comes.
“I know that a number of companies have imported petroleum pms. So, many of them are on line. Market forces have started to play. People have confidence in the market and private sector people are now importing products but there is no way they can recover their cost if they cannot take market reflective cost.”
Speaking further on the development, the Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Farouk Ahmed, said the authority has no business with setting the price of petrol.
“As a regulator, you know I told you back in May, we are not going to be setting prices, the market will determine itself and as you saw back in early June when prices came out, it was based on the cost of importation plus other logistics of distribution and of course, the profit margin by the importer.
“This market is deregulated, it’s open to all participants. As mentioned also yesterday (Monday) when I was in Lagos, we have about 56 marketing companies that have applied for and obtained licenses to import.
“Out of those, 10 of them have indicated to supply within the third quarter, which is July, August and September. And out of those already, we received some cargo from some of these Marketers.
“Prudent Energy, AYM Shafa and Emadeb Cargo are arriving tomorrow (Wednesday). So, this is just an encouragement to see that the market is liberated and everyone is free to import so long as you are working within the framework, especially in terms of quality.
“But the pricing, as a regulator, we are not going to put a cap on the price because we are not part of those importing. We are not a marketing company, we are just a regulator.
“So, when you say market forces are working, basically what it means is that you can see the price of crude oil going up, a couple of weeks ago recovering around 70 dollars per barrel now it’s around 80 dollars per barrel,” he said.
