The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) have said they are studying new regulations adopted by the Federal Government on Tuesday to guide importation, pricing and distribution of petrol.
The unions promised to make their positions known soon.
Under the new rules, which was submitted by the Technical Committee on Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) Pricing Framework, there is now a single forex window for all petroleum products importers into the country including the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
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Also, the technical committee recommended the issuance of monthly pricing guide by the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA).
The report stated: “Non-adoption of common exchange rate will expose Nigerians to exploitation by market participants. Universal exchange rate is the most effective way of liberalising the sector and introducing competitiveness that will ultimately lead to fair price. On lightering expense, about 70 per cent of the ship to ship happen in the Lagos area.
“NPA and NIMASA charges are paid in U.S. dollars. Marketers are compelled to source forex from the parallel market to pay the charges, thereby leading to higher pump price. This is responsible for the lightering expense of about N4 per litre.”
The report noted that observations were made about the beneficiaries of wholesale margin meant for the importer. The existing template dedicated the margin only to any company that delivers product. Consequently, bulk importers do not have margin at all for import activities.
The report recommends that the PPPRA should convey periodic meetings with Petroleum Products and Marketing Company (PPMC) and other importers to construct actual costs of supply reflective determination as an interim solution to the confusion in the downstream sector.
It added that the NLC and its Trade Union Congress (TUC) counterpart as well as PENGASSAN and NUPENG should witness the determination of prices at periodic meetings with other stakeholders.
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