19th July, 2023
By Kazeem Ugbodaga
The House of Representatives on Wednesday rejected a motion to suspend the latest increase in the price of fuel nationwide.
The House, therefore, constituted an Ad-hoc committee to investigate incessant hike in the price of fuel in the country.
The price of the Petroleum Motor Spirit (PMS) was increased from N488 to N619 per litre on Tuesday with Nigerians expressing anger and bitterness over the increase.
Despite the misgivings, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) explained why the prices of fuel rose to N617 per litre, saying market realities is dictating the prices.
Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPCL, Mele Kyari, who spoke with newsmen after meeting with Vice President Kashim Shettima, said “They are just prices depending on the market realities.”
According to Kyari, this is the meaning of making sure that the market regulates itself, saying that the prices would go up and sometimes it would come down also.
He said the issue of shortage of supply was never an issue, as there was no shortage of the product.
Kyari added that “When you go to the market, you buy the product, you come to the market and sell it at its prevailing market price. It has nothing to do with supply. We don’t have supply issues.
“We have a robust supply. We’ve had over 32 days of supply in the country. That’s not a problem.
Kyari assured Nigerians that this was the best way to go forward so that marketers could adjust prices when market forces come to play.
“I don’t have the details this moment, but I know that our marketing wing acts just like every other company in this business. I know that a number of companies have imported petroleum products today.
“So, many of them are on line. I’m sure my colleague would confirm this. Market forces have started to play; people have started having confidence in the market. Private sector people are importing products, but there is no way they can recover their cost if they cannot take market reflective cost,” Kyari said.