Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) and Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) say there is no hike in the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) or petrol.
The groups confirmed the development in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Lagos while reacting to reports that the price of PMS has been increased to N212.61 per litre.
Currently petrol sells at N162 and N165 per litre at most filling stations across the country.
Mr Clement Isong, the Executive Secretary, MOMAN, told NAN that the association had received communication from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) that there should be no price increment for PMS.
Isong said, “NNPC has told us that they will not increase prices in March. If you recall, they have made a statement on that earlier and have reconfirmed to us that there is no increment.
“They have also put it out on their social media handles.’’
According to him, queue noticed at filling stations in some states of the country in recent weeks is due to speculation that there will be price increase.
“What NNPC did was to take out the speculation by giving assurance that price will not go up in March and that killed the queue and demand went down.
“What they have done again this morning is to take out the speculation out of the market. They always have enough products,’’ he said.
Isong added that MOMAN had advised its members to continue retailing with the old price regime.
Similarly, Mr Chinedu Okoronkwo, President, IPMAN said marketers had received communication from NNPC that there would not be any price increment until government and organised labour concluded their deliberations.
“There is no increment. Government is still talking with labour. What we are even concerned about is total deregulation of the market.
“There are other alternative sources of energy to PMS and we cannot continue to focus all our attention only on that product.
Meanwhile, Chief Timipre Sylva, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, says there will be no increment in the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) until conclusion of consultation with Organised Labour.
Sylva gave the assurance while addressing newsmen on Friday in Lagos.
The minister said the clarification was necessitated by reports that the price of PMS, commonly known as petrol, had been increased to N212.61 per litre.
He said: “Irrespective of the source of that information, I want to assure you that it is completely untrue.
“Neither Mr President who is the Minister of Petroleum Resources nor myself who deputises for him as minister of state has approved that petrol price should be increased by one naira.
“I therefore urge you to disregard this misleading information.”
According to him, for the past few months, the government has been in consultation with organised labour to find the least painful option to respond to the global rise of crude price which has inevitably led to increase in petrol prices.
He said it was unthinkable that government would unilaterally abandon these discussions and act in the manner suggested by the information under reference.
Sylva maintained that cynicism and deceit have never been the trademark of the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.
“I will like to equally assure you that the engagement with the organised labour and other stakeholders will continue even as the calculations to arrive at a reasonable price regime are being done; all in good faith and you will be availed of the final outcome at the appropriate time.
“Until then, all marketers are strongly advised to maintain the current pump price of PMS before the emergence of this unfortunate information.
“Those who may want to take advantage of this unfortunate information to extort Nigerians should not give in to such temptations as there are regulatory mechanisms that government can enforce to protect its citizens.
“In conclusion, I want to sincerely apologise to all Nigerians for any distress and inconvenience the unfortunate information might have caused, “he said.
