The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) stated on Thursday that its members have no plans to raise fuel prices.
Okanlawon Olanrewaju, IPMAN’s Public Relations Officer, said this in an interview with Channels Television, advising Nigerians against frantic purchase of fuel.
Oil marketers on Tuesday that fuel subsidies were increasing due to the naira’s depreciation against the US dollar and the rising cost of crude oil, emphasising that in a free market, PMS should sell for N1,200/litre.
Though the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited downplayed the likelihood of another pump price increase on Wednesday, many Nigerians remain concerned.
Meanwhile, IPMAN’s PRO guaranteed that oil merchants cannot unilaterally raise fuel prices unless NNPCL tells them differently.
“As far as the independent marketers are concerned, we don’t have plans or plans to increase fuel pump price
“There is no basis for that for now. There is no signal from NNPC that we should increase. So, we cannot do that on our own except NNPC comes out and says we are going to increase pump price. On our own, there is nothing like that.
President Bola Tinubu had in his May 29 inauguration said the 2023 budget made no provision for fuel subsidy and that it was no longer justifiable.
The declaration saw petrol per litre jumping from around N184 to over N600 in several parts of the country. The removal of fuel subsidy also came with attendant economic crises with inflation moving to an all-time high.
