The Federal Government has refused to intervene in the ongoing controversy between the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and Dangote Refinery over petrol pricing.
Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, made this known during a press briefing at the State House on Wednesday, stating that both entities are business concerns operating in a deregulated market.
The PMS regime has been deregulated, making Dangote a private company and NNPC a limited liability company.
Onanuga emphasized that the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) allows NNPC to operate independently, despite being owned by the federal, state, and local governments.
According to Onanuga, private marketers who find NNPC or Dangote’s prices too high can import fuel and sell it at a reasonable price, benefiting consumers, explaining that this is made possible by the deregulated market, which ultimately benefits consumers if a price war starts.
“Now to the question about the cost of PMS, well, let me say that, as far as this government is concerned, the PMS regime has been deregulated, Dangote is a private company. We should not forget NNPC is a limited liability company. Whatever controversy both of them are having is their own problem.
“If you go by the terms of Petroleum Industry Act, NNPC is on its own, even though it’s owned by the federal government, the state governments and local councils, but it’s operating as a limited liability company.
“You can see what the private marketers said; that if think they find the NNPC or Dangote’s prices too much for them, they will resort to importing fuel because it’s a deregulated market, at the end of the day, it’s the consumer who benefits if a price war starts.
“If NNPC’s fuel is too much (expensive), the private marketers can go to the market and bring in their own fuel and sell at the price that they think is very reasonable and profitable for them.
“So my answer is that, as far as government is concerned, government is not dabbling to this controversy. Dangote is a private company, it’s working on its own. NNPC is a limited liability company and it has the right to fix the price of its own fuel”, he said.
The controversy began when NNPC revealed that Dangote Refinery sold petrol to them at N898 per liter, which Dangote disputed, calling the claim misleading and mischievous.
The refinery’s pricing has been a subject of debate, with reports suggesting varying prices across different states.
Reports indicate petrol prices range from N950.22 per liter in Lagos State to N1,019.22 per liter in Borno State.
Other states, including Oyo and Ogun, Rivers and Imo, and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, have prices ranging from N960.22 to N992.22 per litre.