The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL, has reacted to reports suggesting that it has crashed the depot price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), popularly known as petrol, from N640 per litre to N630 per litre.
Several publications had claimed the NNPCL had also disclosed plans to sell directly to independent marketers instead of first taking it to private depots so that final consumers would also be able to buy at cheaper rates.
However, reacting to what many Nigerians received as a good news, the NNPCL on Wednesday evening described the reports as rumours.
The company further asserted that the reports are false while urging Nigerians to disregard them entirely.
In a press release, the NNPCL said: “The NNPC Limited wishes to clarify rumours suggesting a price adjustment for Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) and Automotive Gas Oil (Diesel) at its retail stations nationwide.
“The company asserts that these reports are false and urges Nigerians to disregard them entirely.
“NNPC Ltd. reaffirms its commitment to sustaining the current sufficiency in petroleum products supply across all its retail stations in the country. Olufemi Soneye. Chief Corporate Communications Officer. NNPC Ltd.
Abuja.”
Last week, a former Bauchi State Governor, Isa Yuguda, spoke on the petrol subsidy removal policy of the President Bola Tinubu administration.
He was a guest on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme during the week.
According to him, the Federal Government still pays subsidy on petrol, though minimal.
The ex-governor said a complete removal will inflict untold hardship on Nigerians, even as he urged states to judiciously make use of the double allocations that they now get by channeling it to drive down the cost of products in the economy.
In his words: “There are those who say it looks like a dagger in the heart of the economy but there are those who believe that it is a necessary surgery that needs to be done though it has a lot of implications. And there are those who argue that it was a knee jerk approach. How do we find ourselves? Was it the right decision that the President made at the time or the wrong one?
“Let me put the issue of subsidy removal in its proper context. I was a member of the Presidential Committee on Economic Meltdown in 2008, 2009. And I chaired the committee on investigating the subsidy regime.
“To the best of my understanding, the removal itself was a decision of our representatives in the National Assembly because they prepared the 2023 budget and they did not provide for subsidy post 29th May 2023. ..” CONTINUE READING