By Ade Jacobs
Oil marketers under the aegis of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), and Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria (PPROAN), have said their members will not sell petrol at the N162 per litre recently recommended by government.
The Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, on Monday announced the price adjustment from N167 to N162, expected to take off on December 14.
The Minister had, after a meeting with leaders of the Nigerian Labour Congress, NLC, and Trade Union Congress (TUC), earlier in the week, said “Our discussion was fruitful and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, which is the major importer and marketers of petroleum products, have agreed that there will be a slide down of the pump price of PMS and that the price cut will get us about N5 per litre and that the price cut will take effect from next Monday, December 14, 2020.”
The marketers, however, said the Minister overreached himself on the matter, insisting that the government failed to consider the fluctuation in global oil prices, which makes it impossible to sell the product at N162 per litre.
The petroleum marketing leaders said the agreement the federal government reached with Organised Labour is not binding on them, adding that the issue has not been officially communicated to them.
The National Operation Controller, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Mike Osatuyi, said given the current realities in global crude oil prices and the devaluation of the naira, petrol cannot be sold at N162 per litre, adding that the government must decide on the deregulation of the sector.
According to him, “The government said it had deregulated; so, it is not possible to sell petrol at N162 on December 14. If you ask anybody now in the industry, they will tell you the price at which they can sell is about N170 to N180.
“The Minister of Labour does not have the power to determine the price of petrol. Even the President can only do that if we go back to subsidy.”
On his part, the National President, PPROAN, Dr Billy Gillis-Harry, said the undue interference by the government in petrol pricing will defeat the purpose of deregulation.
He said oil marketers had lost millions of naira as a result of the regular price adjustments by the federal government, noting that the marketers “have no circular to confirm that price adjustment, and as far as we are concerned, we cannot say it will be implemented until we get official communication about it.”