Fuel price hike: NNPCL punishing Nigerians – IPMAN rejects price, threatens shutdown

Nigerians are facing potential challenges as the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) has rejected the new ex-depot price for Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) set by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL). IPMAN, which controls over 70% of the country's filling stations, has warned that it may halt operations if NNPCL does not reverse the new price of N1,010 per liter.

Speaking with DAILY POST, IPMAN spokesperson Chinedu Ukadike expressed discontent with NNPCL’s recent price increase. On Wednesday, NNPCL announced new prices ranging from N998 to N1,030 per liter at its outlets in Abuja and Lagos, and between N1,040 to N1,010 per liter for sales to marketers.

Ukadike criticized the move, stating that NNPCL's pricing strategy is contributing to the ongoing hardship for Nigerians and is not reflective of a true deregulated market. He warned that with the ex-depot price of N1,010, independent marketers, who operate most of the country’s filling stations, will have to sell fuel at around N1,200 per liter.

“NNPCL is offering ex-depot prices of N1,045 per liter in Port Harcourt, N1,040 in Calabar, and N1,010 in Lagos. We reject these prices and will not lift NNPCL’s petrol," Ukadike stated, adding that this could lead to widespread fuel shortages across the nation.

On Thursday, many filling stations in Abuja were not selling fuel. Meanwhile, the Nigeria Labour Congress has called for the immediate reversal of NNPCL’s price hike, but the government attributed the increase to market forces.

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