A few hours after the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Heineken Lokpobiri, denied reports of increase in the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) popularly called petrol, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited has increased the price of the product across its retail outlets.
The pump price of the product was increased from the current ₦568 to ₦897 per litre across several retail outlets as the lingering fuel scarcity and crisis in the country bites harder.
It sells for ₦885/litre at some other NNPC outlets across Lagos State.
A Mobil Filling Stations at Bale Animashaun Road that previously sold the product around N650/litre has also jerked up its price to N890/litre at the time of filling this report.
Reports on the newly increased price come after NNPC said it owed its suppliers more than $6 billion.
Earlier, Lokpobiri had said the ministry never gave the national oil company such a directive.
Lokpobiri in a statement signed by his media aide, Nnemaka Okafor, said reports of price directive were “ill-conceived to sow discord and confusion in the oil industry.”
The statement read:
“The Federal Government is compelled to address the outright falsehoods currently being circulated on social media, which claim that the Minister of Petroleum Resources (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, has directed the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited to inflate petroleum prices above the approved pump price.
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“We categorically condemn these claims as baseless, malicious, and a deliberate attempt to incite public discontent. We challenge anyone in possession of any evidence-be it written documents, audio, or video recordings-that supports these fabrications to make it public.
“Such a claim is entirely devoid of truth and should be recognised as an intentional effort to mislead the public. It must be stressed that NNPCL operates as an independent entity under the Companies and Allied Matters Act, with a fully empowered Board of Directors.”
Lokpobiri said the ministry does not interfere in the internal decisions of NNPC, including fuel pricing.
The minister said the reports suggesting different perspective are incorrect and also reveal a profound misunderstanding of the deregulated nature of Nigeria’s petroleum sector.
By: Babajide Okeowo
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