Marketers Fault FG’s Petrol Price Cap, Says It Breaches PIA

The Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN) has faulted the federal authorities’s directive that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) minimize its petrol pump value, saying capping the value departs from the legislation.
National president of PETROAN, Dr Billy Gillis-Harry, informed LEADERSHIP that the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) totally eradicated value controls within the downstream petroleum sector, and {that a} value cap due to this fact runs in opposition to the Act.
He described value capping as an aberration and mentioned it can’t assure truthful competitors available in the market.
How the value cap took place
The federal authorities final Thursday introduced a 30-day plan to scale back petrol costs by way of a reduction association in any respect filling stations operated by NNPC.
The minister of finance and coordinating minister of the financial system, Taiwo Oyedele, introduced the plan at a press convention in Abuja. The intervention is backed by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Government mentioned the transfer is supposed to provide momentary reduction to households and transport operators contending with excessive vitality and residing prices. It can be a part of measures to cushion the influence of worldwide crude oil value shocks and petrol market volatility.
Under the association, NNPC Retail, an NNPC subsidiary, has agreed to forgo its revenue margin on petrol and promote at value, whereas authorities negotiates a N1,350-per-litre ceiling on the touchdown or ex-gantry value of the product. A touchdown value of N1,300 per litre, as an example, would translate right into a pump value of N1,300.
“There’ll be a discount on NNPC petrol for the next 30 days, with priority for public transporters,” Oyedele mentioned.
Government burdened that the initiative shouldn’t be seen as a return to the subsidy period, saying that might destroy the nation’s financial system.