Several filling stations have been shut down across the country as fuel price hits N630 per litre from N625.
Daily Report Nigeria reports that the pump price Premium Motor Spirit skyrocketed amid the ongoing crisis regarding the availability of the product.
The development has been attributed to the hike in the cost of importation, lifting, transportation, and distribution of petroleum products.
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Due to a lack of foreign exchange, marketers are struggling to import petroleum products, compounded by their inability to access products from the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), leading to the current scarcity.
Tribune Online reports that petrol stations in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) are either closed down or are selling at exorbitant in the range of N625-N630 per litre range.
Commenting on the situation, Chief Chinedu Ukadike, the Spokesperson of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) cautioned that if the current rate persists, petrol prices could sell for between N900 and N1,000 per litre, a situation he suggested could turn to a dire one for Nigerians.
Ukadike explained, “The Federal Government has shifted away from deregulation and is now subsidizing petroleum products due to importers’ inability to source dollars from the parallel market, where the dollar rate is nearly N1,300. The government’s intervention, through its subsidiary NNPCL, has emerged as the country’s sole fuel importer, thus ensuring continued subsidy for Nigerians.”
“In Abuja, marketers are selling at N630 per litre because they are buying from Lagos, and the transportation cost from Lagos is now approximately N2.3 million, depending on the truck’s capacity, compared to the previous N400,000.”
Reacting to the development, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), which is the sole importer of fuel, assured of an ample supply of PMS with a 30-day sufficiency.
