Olusola Bello
Nigerians have reason to heave a sigh of relief with the assurance from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) that it will not increase the price of Premium Motor Spirit or petrol in the next 45 days.
Mele Kyari, Group Managing Director, disclosed this at the end of a closed door meeting with Petroleum Transport Drivers (PTD), National Association of Road Transporters Owners (NARTO) and oil marketers in Abuja.
Ex-depot price is the price marketers buy products from depot owners; it determines the pump price at filling stations.
The corporation in a post on its Twitter handle said: “We want to inform oil marketing companies that NNPC will not increase the pump price of PMS in May”. He further assured Nigerians that there are about 20 billion litres of Premium Motor Sprit or Petrol in the corporation’s storage facilities.
Nigerians have been panicking over the price of petrol would be since the time both the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Slyva and the NNPC boss have been drumming it into everybody’s ear, that there would be full deregulation of the downstream sector of the petroleum industry.
The Federal Government is paying huge amount of money as subsidy in order to ensure Nigerians get petrol.
He said Petrol will be available in all the depots in the country including NNPC dispatched depot across the country, so nobody should panic in buying the product.
The NNPC boss said Petrol will be available in all the depots in the country including NNPC dispatched depot across the country, so nobody should panic in buying the product, stating that with the assurance from tanker drivers and NUPENG, there is no need for panic buying of the product
On the strike by Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD), he said a commitment has been given to both National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO) and PTD that the issue involved would be resolved within a week and come back to the table to have a total closure on the issue.
The strike, he said, was associated with NARTO’s inability to increase their compensation which was not resolved last week.
On the marketing side of the business, he said the NNPC and marketers have a robust engagement in respect of increase in the volume product that is check in the Nigerian market.
“We have agreed to work jointly with all the security agencies to contain any possible infractions seen in our borders. We will also work as a team to curtail this fraudulent practice with the help of the security agencies,” he said.
He said that all stakeholders agreed in making PMS available to marketers, even as they discussed discussed issues on payment by Petroleum Equalisation Fund (PEF) to oil marketing companies.
Yusuf Orthman, NARTO President, in his remark, commended the NNPC for the intervention and assured that within the next seven days, things will normalise in the adjustment of allowances of PTD.
According to him, NARTO had requested PTD to bring three persons so that they discuss the issues but that would not have been possible without this intervention.
“We hope that within the next seven days things will normalise and I want to assure Nigerians that we are committed to it,” he said.
