…As minister rules out price hike in June
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has said State governors do not run the affairs of the corporation, stressing that negotiation to determine a new pump price of petrol is still ongoing between the organised labour and the Federal government.
It added that there is no official announcement of any price hike for the product.
Kaduna State governor, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai was quoted as saying that there was a recommendation from the Nigeria Governors’ Forum that petrol should sell for between N380 to N408 per litre.
The recommendation was a request for the complete removal of the subsidy on petrol.
With the removal, the product would be at the mercy of demand and supply.
But the NNPC Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Dr. Kennie Obateru, reportedly said it is not the responsibility of State governors to run the corporation.
“I can’t react to that. You know how the thing runs: it is not the state governments that will determine what we do in our Corporation. It is a government (Federal) thing.
“And as far as I am concerned, negotiation is ongoing; so when it is communicated to the appropriate quarters. That is when we will respond. For now we don’t have any official communication,” Obateru said.
He assured the general public that the recommendations of N408 per litre would not lead to any scarcity of petrol.
According to him, NNPC had petrol stock sufficiency of 40 days.
“Our plan is always to have over 40 days of sufficiency” he said, stressing that fuel was available in abundance.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, has assured that there will be no increase in the price of petrol in the month of June.
The minister gave the assurance Friday through a statement he personally signed in Abuja.
The statement read:
“Once again, it has become necessary to assure Nigerians that despite the huge burden of under-recovery, the Federal Government is not in a hurry to increase the price of Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) to reflect current market realities.
The current price of petrol will be retained in the month of June until the ongoing engagement with organized labour is concluded.
“This clarification becomes necessary in the light of recent reports regarding the resolution of the Nigeria Governors Forum to increase the pump price of petrol.
In this regard, I would like to strongly urge petroleum products marketers not to engage in any activity that could jeopardize the seamless supply and distribution system in place.
“I also urge members of the public to avoid panic buying because the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has enough stock of petroleum products to keep the nation wet,” he concluded.