NNPC Says Fuel At N145/Liter No Longer Sustainable

Former and present Group Managing Directors of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation have expressed fears that the current pump price of N145 per litre is no longer feasible.According to them,

the amount does not correspond with the price-determining components of the commodity and the fluctuations of the foreign exchange rate.They stated this after a one-day meeting they held with the
Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, in Abuja.The NNPC in its statement said,“They (the GMDs) noted that the petrol price of N145/litre is not congruent with the liberalisation policy especially with the foreign exchange rate and other price determining components such as crude cost, Nigerian Ports Authority charges, etc remaining uncapped.”Oil marketers had earlier on revealed that the actual or real cost of petrol was N151.87 when all the pricing components are adequately captured.The marketers had stated that they were struggling to maintain petrol price at N145 per litre because of the stiff competition in the downstream oil sector, but stressed that the practice was not sustainable.However, the Nigeria Labour Congress, Trade Union Congress, Afenifere, former federal lawmakers, security experts and rights activists have warned the President Muhammadu Buhari administration not to contemplate any further increase in the pump price of petroleum products in the countryThe General Secretary of the NLC, Dr. Peter Ozo-Eson, who stated this in an interview with SUNDAY PUNCH, said Nigerians would not accept further fuel price increment.He said, “We had given a warning before that Nigerians cannot take any further increase, that they shouldn’t do it.“That remains our position, and if they go ahead and do it, it is up to Nigerians to say how they want to respond to it. But we remain opposed to any new increase in the price of petroleum product.”