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The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited has debunked the reports making the rounds that it planned to jack up the price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), popularly known as petrol, to ₦1,200 per litre.
Reports in some media outlets (excluding Pulse) on Wednesday, January 3, 2024, claimed that the national petroleum company was in dispute with petrol marketers under the aegis of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN).
The report further alleged that the heart of the rift was the demand by the marketers that the government should come clean on whether it was still paying subsidy on fuel.
However, in a terse statement on Wednesday, the Spokesman of the NNPCL, Olufemi Soneye, said the petrol subsidy had been entirely removed.
“NNPC Ltd emphasises it has not clashed with any party. The Punch headline is deemed unfortunate, Soneye said.
He added, “The publication sought confirmation on the alleged subsidy reduction, to which NNPC responded that the subsidy has been entirely removed.”
The fuel subsidy has remained a hot-button topic since President Bola Tinubu announced during his inaugural speech on May 29, 2023, that the subsidy is gone.
The president stressed that the 2023 budget bequeathed him by the previous administration had no provision for fuel subsidy, adding that subsidy payment was no longer justifiable.
His pronouncement, however, caused an immediate ripple effect on fuel prices across the country as the commodity jumped from around ₦184 to over ₦600 per litre.
The policy also worsened the inflation crisis, with food inflation jumping to an all-time high.