Buhari’s government quietly increases price of petrol to N179 per litre

The Federal government under President Muhammadu Buhari has quietly approved the upward review in the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) from N165 per litre to N179 per litre.

This was contained in a noticed issued by the federal government-owned company, Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited to fuel marketers which directed them to change the petrol price on pumps to the new price effective, Tuesday, July 19, 2022.

This came after weeks of petrol scarcity resurfaced across the country as fuel retailers were adopting different price bands to force unofficial deregulation attempts.

Recall, members of Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) had earlier claimed that with the current business environment, it is unrealistic for them to be selling petrol at N165 per litre.

Following this, it was reported that Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) and oil marketers have increased the price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) popularly known as petrol to between N170/litre and N190/litre.

According to the The PUNCH report on Sunday, July 17, 2022, the development was the outcome of a meeting between the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority and oil marketers on Thursday.

“The meeting was held and everybody was told to keep mum. A band of N165-N175/litre was approved for the filling stations inside towns, while N189 was approved for those outside towns,” a source said.

While the NMDPRA decline to comment on the development, marketers under the aegis of the IPMAN confirmed the fuel pump price hike to our correspondent.

The National Operations Controller, IPMAN, Mike Osatuyi, explained the reasons behind the fuel pump price hike.

Osatuyi, who also denied that a meeting held between oil marketers and the Federal Government on Thursday, however, disclosed that there was a fresh increase, describing it as a “market fundamentally determined price.”

According to The Guardian, already, majority of filling stations in Lagos have adopted different price models. While some filling stations have changed the price on their meters to reflect the current price they are selling at, others have left theirs to show the approved retail price of N165 per litre but were selling above the displayed price.

For instance, the Mobil filling station on Agidingbi sold a litre of petrol at N170 per litre on Friday and that was evidently displayed on their meters.

The development was also the same at Enyo filling station at Chisco bus stop, in Lekki, which now sells for N170 per litre, Eterna filling station at Jankade bus stop, Lekki sells at N180 per litre and Mobil Filing station, by Osapa London, Lekki now selling at N170 per litre.