Nigerian Govt to Stay Out of NNPCL and Dangote Petrol Price Battle

The Nigerian government confirms it will not intervene in the ongoing petrol price dispute between NNPCL and Dangote, leaving the market forces to decide.

In the conflict over gas pump prices between Dangote Refinery and the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited, or NNPCL, the federal government has thrown in the towel.

According to the Federal Government, the two parties are free to choose their own market prices for customers.

President Tinubu’s Special Advisor on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, briefed State House correspondents in Abuja on Wednesday about the Federal Government’s stance.

He clarified that Dangote and NNPCL, as oil refiners and marketers, are permitted to operate in accordance with economic market forces and establish their rates for gasoline, also known as Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), since the petroleum industry has been deregulated.

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According to the presidential spokesman, such a situation would ultimately benefit Nigerian consumers because price wars and competing alternatives drive down costs.

“The PMS price regime has been deregulated,” stated Onanuga. Dangote is an independent business. Remember that NNPCL is a limited liability company.

“Any debate that one of them is involved in is a personal issue for them. NNPCL is on its own, even if you follow the Petroleum Industry Act. It functions as a limited liability corporation even if the federal government, state government, municipal councils, and everything else own it.

As you can see, the private marketers have stated that they might import petrol because they deem the NNPC or Dangote prices to be too high.

“If a pricing war breaks out, it is to the benefit of the consumer. In the event that NNPC fuel supplies are excess, the public market may enter the market, bring in its own fuel, and sell it for a price that it deems both profitable and reasonable.

Thus, the government is staying out of this dispute. While NNPC is a limited liability corporation with the authority to set the pricing of its own products, Dangote is the sole proprietor of a private enterprise.

Even if NNPCL and Dangote are at odds over the precise price at which the former purchases the product from the latter, the lowest gas pump price at the moment is N895 a litre.