N935/Litre Petrol: NLC Speaks on New Fuel Price, Makes Fresh Demand
- The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) have faulted the recent drop in the pump price of fuel
- They have called for a deeper cut in the pump price of petrol, criticizing the recent reduction to N935 per litre as insufficient and not reflective of the true cost of locally refined petrol
- Dangote Petroleum Refinery, MRS and IPMAN recently collaborated and announced the reduction to N935 per litre but labour is not excited, hence demand a lower price
TheTalk.NG journalist Esther Odili has over two years of experience covering political parties and movements.
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Civil Society Organisations have 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, reduced the petrol price to N935 per litre, following an agreement with the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), replacing the previous price of over N1,030 per litre in Lagos and more than N1,060 per litre in Abuja and the northern states.
Not stopping there, to provide Nigerians much-needed respite, Dangote Refinery lowered the price of PMS to N899.50k per litre in what it called a Holiday Bonanza.
In a swift reaction to the development, Chris Onyeka, a senior official of the NLC, condemned the federal government and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL)’s current petrol pricing mechanism.
He argued that the current pricing mechanism does not reflect the true cost of the commodity, despite Nigeria’s refining capacity.
Onyeka, in an interview with The Punch on Tuesday, December 24, stressed that the true price should reflect domestic refining costs rather than reliance on imported products.
Speaking further, Onyeka added that the only way to ascertain the correct price of PMS is by determining the actual cost of refining it domestically.
“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.
“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,” he stated.
Petrol landing cost drops to N970/litre
In related news, TheTalk.NG earlier reported that the Major Energy Marketers Association of Nigeria (MEMAN) disclosed a significant reduction in the landing cost of petrol.
The association stated that petrol landing cost dropped to N970 per litre in December from N971 recorded in November.
MEMAN also said that the drop in landing cost was due to the decline in crude oil prices and exchange volatility.
Source: TheTalk.NG
