The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has stated that the pump price of petrol remains unchanged after the recent recommendation by the Nigeria Governors Forum for total deregulation and recommended price of N385 per liter of petrol.
The NNPC in its response says the negotiation to determine the new cost of petrol per litre in Nigeria is still ongoing between the government, organized labour, and other stakeholders.
The NNPC in a reaction by its Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Dr. Kennie Obateru said there is no official announcement on petrol price hike and Nigerians need not resort to panic buying.
Naija News recalls Nigerian governors have recommended an increase in the pump price of petrol from the current price to not less than N385 per litre with a total deregulation of the petroleum sector.
It is understood that the price increase is part of recommendations by a committee headed by Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai which was set up by the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF).
The six-man committee was set up to review the pump price of petrol in the country.
The governors gave the recommendation at its 30th teleconference meeting which held on Wednesday according to a communique released after the meeting by NGF Chairman, Ekiti State Governor, Kayode Fayemi.
But NNPC in its reaction has stated that the governors don’t control petrol pricing and until the negotiations are concluded, no decision can be taken on adjusting the pump price of petrol in the country.
“I can’t react to that. You know how the thing runs: it is not the state governments that will determine what we do in our Corporation. It is a government (Federal) thing.
“And as far as I am concerned, negotiation is ongoing; so when it is communicated to the appropriate quarters. That is when we will respond. For now we don’t have any official communication,” Obateru said during a telephone interview with The Nation.
He assured the general public that the NNPC had petrol stock sufficiency of 40 days and Nigerians shouldn’t nurse any fears about scarcity.
“Our plan is always to have over 40 days of sufficiency,” he stressed.
Meanwhile, two people have been confirmed dead in an explosion at the Olusegun Obasanjo presidential library in Abeokuta, the Ogun state capital.
It was gathered that the explosion occurred around 11:23 am at the Marque event centre within the premises of the library, on Thursday.
According to witnesses, the explosion was triggered when technicians were topping up gas into the Air Conditioner at the event centre.