The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), says there is no plan by the association to increase the pump price of petrol to N700 per litre this month.
Its Chairman in the Southwest, Dele Tajudeen, said the price of the product would not be more that what it is currently being sold.
He said: “Even in the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) Bill, it is clearly stated that the subsidy must be removed. So, I want to commend him for removing the subsidy and I want to say that we are in support totally. This is because the subsidy was a scam.”
Tajudeen noted that the slight increase in pump price was because of the transportation cost and that Nigerians should be at rest as the commodity will not be out of reach for the masses.
He added: “I want to disabuse the mind of the people that they should not panic about it. There is no cause for alarm. We are in control and there is nothing like that.”
Tajudeen noted that people should rest assured that there is no way they can buy petrol more than the price it is being sold now.
He stressed: “If we look at the price from NNPC retail limited, which is an integral part of NNPC limited, they have more advantages than independent marketers and major marketers.
”So, it was the retail price that they announced; they had never given a specific price to the independent marketers.
“However, I have read what somebody put in the paper. It is just speculation; it is not a reality. There is nothing like that, I want to assure the masses.
“There is no how the price can go to N700, because even if the FX is N700 or N800, that has nothing to take the price of petroleum from N500 to N700,” Tajudeen said.
The South-west chairman noted that the product had been deregulated hence the differential in prices was due to transportation as it is related to location.
He explained: ”If you are moving products within Lagos, the price may not be more than N300,000. But if you are moving up to Ibadan or thereabout, it could be as much as N500,000.
”And if you are going to Ilorin, it could be as high as N700,000. That would account for the differential in prices.
“I want to say with all sense of authority that as of today within the Lagos metropolis, nobody should sell more than N515 to N520 per litre.
”Though NNPC has given us the price, the reality of it is that what we buy from the market, because NNPC limited is not the only source for our product; we get from private depots.
“So, whatever we buy is what we put our own margin and sell.
”But as of today, the highest you can get anywhere should be around N550; Lagos N510 per litre; Ogun State between N500 and N520,” Tajudeen said.