The federal government has assured Nigerians that there is no plan to increase the price of premium motor spirit (PMS), better known as petrol.
The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) made this known in a statement released on Wednesday.
Kimchi Apollo, general manager, corporate communications, NMDPRA, issued the clarification amid speculations on the increase in price and availability of PMS, especially during the festive period.
He said the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Limited had imported PMS with current stock levels sufficient for 34 days.
“Consequently, marketers and the general public are advised to avoid panic buying, diversion of products, and hoarding,” the statement reads.
“In keeping with the Authority’s responsibilities as outlined in the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), the Authority assures the public that it would continue to monitor the supply and distribution of petroleum products nationwide, especially during this holiday season.”
In the last week, many Nigerians have been grappling with petrol scarcity with queues surfacing in filling stations across the country.
The situation has resulted in a boom in black market sales while there have been insinuations that oil marketers may be hoarding the product to force a hike in the price.
Earlier report had it that some black marketers sold the product for between N320 and N350 per liter.
“We used to sell the product for N250 before now. But as the product has increased at fuel stations, we had no choice but to increase our price to N350 a liter,” a seller in the Satellite Town area of Lagos said on Monday.
