Fuel marketers have kicked against the N5 reduction in petrol pump price announced by the Federal Government of Nigeria on Tuesday.
The marketers said the Federal Government does not have the power to determine the price of petrol unless the country returns to the subsidy system.
The Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige, had announced the petrol price cut at the end of a meeting with labour leaders which began around 9 pm on Monday and ended at 1:30 am on Tuesday.
They noted that they are yet to receive a circular from the government concerning the reduction.
“We are waiting for the circular from the government. We can only implement the price reduction when we get the circular,” the Vice President, IPMAN, Mr. Abubakar Maigandi, said.
However, National Operation Controller, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Mr. Mike Osatuyi, said given the recent increase in global oil prices and the devaluation of the naira, “petrol price of N162 cannot work, except we are going back to subsidy.”
He said, “The government said it had deregulated; so, it is not possible to sell petrol at N162 on December 14. If you ask anybody now in the industry, they will tell you the price at which they can sell is about N170 to N180.
“The minister of labour does not have the power to determine the price of petrol. Even the President can only do that if we go back to a subsidy.”
The National President, Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria, Dr. Billy Gillis-Harry, on his part, said the interference by the government in petrol pricing had continued to defeat the purpose of deregulation.
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, had said in September that the Federal Government had stepped back in fixing the price of petrol, adding that market forces and crude oil price would determine the cost of the product.
Gillis-Harry said marketers had lost millions of naira as a result of the frequent price adjustments.
“We have no circular to confirm that price adjustment, and as far as we are concerned, we cannot say it will be implemented until we get official communication about it,” he added.
The Federal Government removed the petrol subsidy in March this year after reducing the pump price of petrol to N125 per litre from N145 on the back of the sharp drop in crude oil prices. The price reduction lasted till June.
Nigerians have seen increases in the pump prices of petrol four times in the past five months, rising from N121.50–N123.50 per litre in June to N140.80-N143.80 in July, N148-N150 in August, N158-N162 in September and N163-N170 in November.