PETROL PRICE STILL ABOVE FIXED RATE IN CERTAIN STATES

T

he price of Petroleum Motor Spirit (PMS), popularly called petrol, increased by 0.1 percent month-on-month (MoM) to N146.90 in August 2018 from N146.80 in July 2018, due to slight edge above official pump price of N145/litre recorded in some states.

According to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) yesterday, stated: “Average price paid by consumers for premium motor spirit (petrol) increased by 1.7 year-on-year and 0.1 percent month-on-month to N146.90 in August 2018 from N146.80 in July 2018.

“States with the highest average price of PMS were Borno (N157), Kebbi (N152.94) and Kwara (N152.86). States with the lowest average price of PMS were Ekiti (N144.23), KatsinaN144.08) and Bauchi (N143.89).”

The development is worrisome as the functions of the two major regulatory agencies, Petroleum Pricing Products Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) and the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) are put to question.

The DPR has sealed up some petrol stations across Nigeria for selling above the pump price of N145 while PPPRA has maintained its stand that the product remained fixed. But recent development shows that they might have gone to sleep leaving marketers to have a field day by selling above the stipulated price.

Although, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has allayed fears on scarcity of the product with assurance that PMS remains N145, if the unscrupulous marketers are not checked, there will continue to be disparity in PMS prices across Nigeria.