Oil marketers under the auspices of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) have revealed that they have the numerical clout to reduce the price of Premium Motor Spirit, also known as petrol, at the pump.
The submission from the oil marketers follows President Bola Tinubu’s recent removal of the fuel subsidy regime.
Tinubu declared the end of the country’s fuel subsidy regime on his inauguration day.
A declaration that resulted in the Nigerian National Petrol Company (NNPC) Limited increasing the pump price of petrol from N184 per litre to N500 per litre.
According to IPMAN President Chinedu Okoronkwo, the association fully supports the President’s decision to remove subsidies because it will ultimately open the downstream oil sectors to more investors, which is a positive indicator for the industry.
Explaining how the IPMAN has the numerical strength to force down the price of petrol when the NNPCL has said Nigerians should not expect any price reduction even with increased local production, the IPMAN boss said at a news conference in Abuja on Wednesday that the association has the numerical strength to force down the price of fuel once they begin independent importation of the product.
This, he claims, is one of the advantages of deregulating the country’s downstream oil sector.
Okoronkwo stated that the 2023 Budget made no provision for fuel subsidies and that such payments are no longer justifiable.
However, he claimed that President Tinubu’s unexpected announcement caused panic in the oil sector, resulting in fuel scarcity and a price increase for petrol.