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The Federal Government has said that it would not take the advise of the forum Group Managing Directors of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, (NNPC) asking it to remove the price cap in the pricing template of petrol.
A removal of the price cap would mean that marketers would be free to sell petrol at their desired price, based on several factors such as the exchange rate and international crude price. With the Naira exchange rate going down by over 50 per cent to about N412 since the current petrol price was fixed, approving the recommendation would have meant Nigerians pay more than N145 per litre for fuel.
The Nigerian government through the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency, PPPRA, however, said on Monday that it will not accept the advice.
The former GMDs had in a 12-point communiqué at the end their meeting with the incumbent GMD of the NNPC, Maikanti Baru, said the price cap of N145 per litre of petrol was “not congruent with the liberalization policy.”
While stating the government’s response, the acting Executive Secretary of PPPRA, Sotonye Iyoyo, said the proposal was the personal opinion of the former state oil chiefs.
“If it was a recommendation, that is what it is – a personal opinion. I’m not aware government is planning any fuel price increase. We are in a liberalised market already,” she told Premium Times.
The spokesperson of the NNPC, Garba Deen Mohammed, also described the advice as an “opinion.”
“The forum was expressing its opinion, which it is entitled to,” Mr. Mohammed was quoted as saying. “NNPC is a player in the petroleum industry and has a right to have its views about the industry. Nobody is bound by the opinion.”