FALANA:IT IS ILLEGAL FOR NNPCL TO FIX PRICE OF DANGOTE PETROL
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Femi Falana, SAN, a human rights attorney, claims that following deregulation, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, or NNPCL, is not allowed to set the price of Premium Motor Spirit, or gasoline, for the Dangote Refinery.
In a statement released on Tuesday, Falana stated that the NNPCL’s decision is in violation of Section 205 of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).
“On September 5, 2024, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL) stated that foreign exchange (forex) illiquidity had been a significant factor influencing the fluctuation in prices of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) governed by unrestrained market forces, as provided for in the Petroleum Industry Act, PIA.
“The NNPCL was explaining the pump price of PMS imported into the country at the material time. Specifically, the Executive Vice President of Downstream NNPC Ltd Mr. Adedapo Segun, explained that Section 205 of the PIA, which established NNPC Ltd, stipulated that petroleum prices were determined by free market forces.
“But contrary to the well-publicised statement, the NNPCL has fixed the price of PMS produced by the Dangote Refinery and Petrochemical Company Limited. The action of the NNPCL is a violent contravention of section 205 of the PIA, which stipulates that the prices of petroleum products shall be determined by market forces.
“Furthermore, since the petrol sold by Dangote is not imported into the country but produced at the Lekki Economic Free Trade Zone, the NNPCL cannot justify the sale of petrol at N950 per litre without freight cost, lightering cost, jetty depot fees, storage fees, foreign exchange costs, NPA charges: NIMASA charges, Customs duties, etc,” he said.
Falana’s rage came after the NNPCL from the Dangote Refinery started lifting PMS.
NNPCL declared that the product would retail for N950 per liter in Lagos State and its surroundings and more than N1,000 per liter in states like Borno as soon as lifting got underway.
In response, the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, or IPMAN, blasted NNPCL on Monday, stating that it was unfair for the price of gasoline taken out of the Dangote Refinery to be more than that of gasoline imported.
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