The Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) pump price may rise, according to sources, thus the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) has advised Nigerians not to panic buy.
Fuel traders and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) reportedly disagreed about whether the government was still providing subsidies.
It stated that the under-recovery of gasoline expenses has stopped, resulting in the current price of petrol being N1,200 per liter.
But speaking on newsmen, IPMAN’s Public Relations Officer, Okanlawon Olanrewaju, said there is no plan by fuel marketers to increase fuel price.
“As far as the independent marketers are concerned, we don’t have plans or plans to increase fuel pump price,” he said on Thursday.
“There is no basis for that for now. There is no signal from NNPC that we should increase. So, we cannot do that on our own except NNPC comes out and says we are going to increase pump price. On our own, there is nothing like that.
“I want to use this opportunity to appeal to the public to stop panic buying. There is nothing like that (fuel price increment). It is just a rumour.”
His remarks were made just hours after the NNPC denied ever having a disagreement with IPMAN and insisted that the fuel subsidy had been completely eliminated months after President Bola Tinubu had announced its elimination.
During his inauguration on May 29, Tinubu declared that gasoline subsidies were no longer justified and that there was no provision for them in the 2023 budget.
In various regions of the nation, the price of gasoline per liter increased after the announcement from about N184 to almost N600. Along with the fuel subsidy elimination came accompanying economic issues, as food inflation reached an all-time high.
