Fuel scarcity: NEC plans price review

The National Economic Council (NEC) yesterday asked its committee to interface with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation with a view to determining the correct price of fuel.

The governor of Bauchi State, Mohammed Abubakar, disclosed this to State House reporters after the NEC meeting presided by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.

The governor, who said the Group Managing Director of NNPC briefed the council on the current fuel scarcity, stated that the committee would consider fuel prices in neighbouring countries.

He said: “The issue is, of course, caused by an interplay of the change rate of the Naira and the Dollar and the price of crude oil at the international market, which affects the landing cost of refined products in Nigeria and in the process, makes the operation of the current price regime almost impossible without some measure of nil return for whoever is in the process.

“As at today, most if not all independent marketers have stopped importing refined products into Nigeria. It is only the NNPC that has been doing it. And the NNPC has been suffering a lot of setbacks. The highest amount of underrecovery; by under recovery, it means the interplay between the landing cost of a litre of the PMS in Nigeria and the pump price of that product.

“If the product lands at N170 for example, and you sell at N145, immediately, you know that you have an under-recovery of about N25 for each litre of fuel. So, he (NNPC GMD) submitted his report and NEC has a committee that has been interfacing with all revenue generating agencies of the Federal Government under the chairmanship of the governor of Gombe State.

“That committee has been charged with the responsibility of interfacing with NNPC with a view to determining the correct price for PMS considering the price of the product in especially countries that are bordering Nigeria, because that is one of the reasons that encourage smuggling of the products to these areas.”

But the Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media and Publicity, Mr Laolu Akande, said government had no plan to hike fuel price.

“We are not expecting any upward review of price at this point,” Akande said.

Photo: Felix Onigbinde From left: Governor of Borno State, Kashim Shetima; Governor of Niger State, Abubakar Sani Bello; Governor of Kwara State, Abdulfatah Ahmed and Governor of Anambra State, Willie Obiano, during the National Economic Council meeting at the Presidential...