24th December 2024
The Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC and Civil Society Organisations, seem not to be satisfied with the magnanimity of the Dangote refinery in this yuletide season, reducing fuel price to N935 per litre.
The organisations have therefore called for further reduction in the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit (petrol), stressing that the recent drop in price to N935/litre is not satisfactory.
Dangote Petroleum Refinery in partnership with MRS had recently announced a reduction in petrol price to N935/litre.
Before the announcement, the commodity sold for over N1,030/litre in Lagos and environs, while it cost more than N1,060/litre in Abuja and Northern states.
The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, had been n Sunday said petrol was going to sell at N935/litre beginning from Monday based on the latest arrangement with the Dangote Petroleum Refinery.
IPMAN’s National President, Maigandi Garima, said the reduction in Dangote refinery’s ex-depot price for petrol and the uniform arrangement being put in place, would enable marketers to sell at N935 in their outlets nationwide, incurring a cost of N36 on logistics.
READ MORE; NNPCL Slashes Petrol Ex-Depot Price By 12%
A senior official of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Chris Onyeka, who rejected any applause for the Federal Government and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited over the recent reduction in the pump price of petrol, argued that the current pricing mechanism does not reflect the true cost of the commodity.
“Do you want us to clap for them? How can we be okay with a price of N935/litre of PMS? This is not the right price for PMS. You cannot base the price on imported products when we have refining capacity in Nigeria,” he said.
He argued that it’s unfair to burden Nigerians with the costs embedded in the current pricing framework which includes foreign labour, freight charges, insurance, logistics, and profits accrued abroad.
He insisted that, “Products are refined in Nigeria, yet the price you give Nigerians is based on imported products. Why should we applaud that? It is akin to someone stealing your money and returning only part of it, then expecting you to clap. We cannot applaud this”
“The NLC’s position underscores growing discontent among Nigerians over the rising cost of living, with fuel prices being a major contributor to inflation and economic hardship,” he stated.
Similarly, the Chairman, Centre for Accountability and Open Leadership, Debo Adeniran, said the reduced price of N935/litre was still expensive and unsatisfactory, noting that the government and private business could still give out free petrol to citizens.
READ MORE; Dangote Refinery Partners MRS To Sell PMS At Lower Price
“Well, we believe that if NNPC and the private sector actually give out PMS for free, they will still not run their business at a loss, because the other derivatives of petroleum products can still serve them, and can still make them to break even. So, even at that N900 and something, it’s still expensive.
“Dangote has kind of mooted the idea that it could drop to as low as N650. And if he has mulled this, then it means that it is the state, it is the NNPC that will have been the clog in the wheel of such progress. And you know also that we expected that fare prices, especially PMS prices, will drop below N200 when Dangote was expected to come on stream.
“So, it’s unfortunate that we are still talking about over N900 and they want us to jump up and rejoice for that. That is not satisfactory. They should just let us see the breakdown of their production cost and why it’s still there. I mean, there are countries like Libya under Gaddafi that gave out PMS for free and they didn’t run anything at any loss. So, I believe that it can still go further down,”
