Osamagbe Imadiyi
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited lowered the price of Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) to N880 per litre in Lagos and N935 in Abuja on Monday, causing petroleum product marketers to lament their losses. On Easter Monday, NNPC retail locations in Abuja changed their pump prices from N950 to N935, while some in Lagos changed their prices from N925 to N880. The Dangote refinery reduced its ex-depot price from N865 to N835 per litre just a week prior to the NNPC price cut. Additionally, the $20 billion refinery instructed its partners, including Heyden, Ardova, and MRS, to sell a litre of petrol for N890 rather than N920 in Lagos, N900 in the South West, N910 in the South-South, and N920 in the North East.
The Dangote refinery’s price is N10 higher than the new NNPC price in Lagos, indicating that the two businesses are engaged in another price war. Some NNPC filling stations were said to be continuing to sell at the previous price. However, marketers claimed that before adjusting to the new prices, these stations were allowed to use up their old stock.
Hammed Fashola, the National Vice President of the Independent Marketers Association of Nigeria, emphasized that filling station operators were losing money while confirming the price reduction in an interview. He said that in order to implement the new prices, NNPC Retail sent a memo to its stores. “It is better for Nigerians on the side of the masses. It is good that fuel is now more affordable. That is the beauty of deregulation that we are talking about. There is nothing that anyone can do. But really, the people who suffer the losses are marketers”.
