The Federal Government (FG), has met with the leadership of the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN), Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), and Natural Oil and Gas Suppliers Association (NOGASA).
This was after IPMAN and NOGASA advocated for an upward review of the petrol pump prices, as some members of the unions had started to dispense petrol above the N165 per litre government-approved price.
BizWatch Nigeria understands that some filling stations in Abuja, Lagos, Ogun, Imo, and Niger, among others, dispense petrol as much as N180 per litre.
Reacting to the official pump prices review demand by the marketers, the General Manager, Corporate Communications Department, Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Kimchi Apollo confirmed that the government was currently engaging the oil dealers.
“We are meeting them now on the various concerns, so don’t worry. By tomorrow you will know what is the outcome.
“The NMDPRA is engaging them in a meeting that is ongoing, so I’ll let you know the outcome. Hopefully, by tomorrow you will know the outcome of the meeting,” he stated.
Asked if the meeting was being held with just MOMAN or all oil marketers, the NMDPRA spokesperson replied, “We cannot engage only MOMAN, we are engaging all of them. We are engaging them so don’t worry. You will know the outcome later.”
Meanwhile, MOMAN’s Chairman, Olumide Adeosun had called for the gradual phasing out of subsidies instead of total deregulation.
“The effect of the Russian/Ukraine war cannot be compared to what we experienced during the covid. What we are seeing is that countries are beginning to close borders against importers and products are being reserved for their own citizens alone. So Nigeria is also being shut out,” he said.
Speaking further, Adeosun added that the Nigerian government has run the subsidy regime for too long. Therefore, he maintained that the huge fund reserved for subsidy should be diverted into growing other sectors such as Agriculture, health, education, and others.
“The Federal Government has allowed subsidy for too long and we haven’t saved for the rainy days. The subsidy keeps increasing to the tune of N4 trillion. Such money would have been invested into Agriculture, health, education, and others,” he added.
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